President Trump claimed Friday ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin that the Russian president would not have invaded Crimea had he been in office, calling the globally condemned annexation an “Obama disaster.”
Trump tackled questions about Russia during a joint press conference outside London with British Prime Minister Theresa May. He used the forum to again blast the “rigged witch hunt,” his term for Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates in the 2016 presidential election, saying it “hurts” U.S. and Russian relations.
But he made the claim about Crimea in response to a question from Fox News’ John Roberts on how relations could be improved while Putin continues to illegally occupy the region.
“I don’t think he would have done that if I were president,” Trump responded. “He took over Crimea during the Obama administration. … This was an Obama disaster, and if I were president then, he would not have taken over Crimea.”
Crimea was annexed from Ukraine by Putin in 2014. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]President Trump said early Thursday that he will raise election meddling during a meeting next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think we go into that meeting not looking for so much. We want to find out about Syria. We will of course ask your favorite question about meddling. I will be asking that question again,” Trump said at a news conference at the end of a tumultuous NATO summit in Brussels.
Trump says he will ask Putin about election meddling during their summit, but notes "he may deny it": "All I can do is say, 'Did you?' and 'Don't do it again'" https://t.co/tb582IMJ4K https://t.co/NWJ4khUlQ1
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 12, 2018
Trump also said Putin may deny meddling in the 2016 election when they meet on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. – READ MORE
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