US President Donald Trump, under fire over his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, doubled down Thursday by saying he looks forward to meeting the Russian leader again — with talks already underway for a visit to Washington in the fall.
Trump has come in for bipartisan criticism for what many saw as his unsettling embrace of the Russian strongman this week — and his seeming disavowal of his own intelligence agencies and their assessment that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election.
Trump initially called it an “incredible offer,” but McFaul and others expressed outrage and the White House — just minutes before the Senate vote — made clear a deal with Putin was not in the cards.
According to opinion polls published Thursday, a large majority of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the summit — but members of his party approved by a wide margin.
In a toughly-worded speech to Russian diplomats, Putin said US-Russia ties were by “some parameters” worse than during the Cold War.