President Donald Trump has taken a lot of heat for a phone call, made in the presence of his National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, during which he congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on winning re-election.
The attacks quickly mounted from both sides, as liberal and conservative critics alike expressed their concern that a congratulatory message from an American president could be viewed as giving a certain amount of legitimacy to an election that would otherwise be viewed as little more than a sham.
From yet another remarkable White House briefing…
Trump DID congratulate Putin.
Trump DID NOT raise election meddling or the UK poisoning.
And was the Russian election free and fair?
“We can only focus on the freeness and the fairness of our elections.”
— James Cook (@BBCJamesCook) March 20, 2018
An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election. https://t.co/lcQTBi7CA1
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) March 20, 2018
Others noted that, according to the Kremlin’s report on the phone call, President Trump did not take the opportunity to challenge Putin on the recent poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the U.K. — despite the fact that Trump has said he believes Russia to be responsible for the attack.
White House spokeswoman confirms UK nerve agent attack was not mentioned in Trump-Putin phone call. Deeply frustrating for Downing Street.
— Robert Moore (@robertmooreitv) March 20, 2018
But then the reports began circulating — first courtesy of the Washington Post — that President Trump was warned specifically not to congratulate Putin via a pre-call memo:
President Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers Tuesday when he congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his reelection — including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” according to officials familiar with the call.
However, Fox News’ John Roberts noted that there might be more to that story:
Senior @WhiteHouse official tells @FoxNews that while NSC’s Putin call briefing memo said “DO NOT CONGRATULATE”, @realDonaldTrump likely didn’t see the memo as his pre-call briefing was by phone – not in person – and ‘do not congratulate’ was not mentioned in the phone briefing.
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) March 21, 2018
And the drama has continued to unfold, as both President Trump and Chief of Staff John Kelly are reportedly furious that the contents of a confidential briefing may have been leaked. Without confirming the contents of the alleged memo, a senior White House official told CNN: “If this story is accurate, that means someone leaked the President’s briefing papers. Leaking such information is a fireable offense and likely illegal.”
Even in the face of backlash, however, President Trump is standing by his decision to congratulate Putin:
I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018
…..They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didn’t have the “smarts.” Obama and Clinton tried, but didn’t have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018