With a smirk and a finger point, President Donald Trump dryly told Russia’s Vladimir Putin “Don’t meddle in the election” in their first meeting since the special counsel concluded that Moscow extensively interfered with the 2016 campaign.
The tone of the president’s comment did little to silence questions about Trump’s relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The moment at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka echoed one of the most defining moments of Trump’s presidency in Helsinki, Finland.
There, he pointedly did not admonish Putin about election interference and did not side with US intelligence agencies over his Russian counterpart.
Trump and Putin traded brief remarks Friday, the first time they sat together since Helsinki, about issues they planned to discuss when a reporter asked Trump if he would warn Putin not to meddle in the 2020 election.
“Of course,” the president replied.
Then he turned to Putin and facetiously said, “Don’t meddle in the election.”
He playfully repeated the request while pointing at Putin, who laughed.
Trump said he enjoyed a “very, very good relationship” with Putin and said “many positive things are going to come out of the relationship.”
The Kremlin says Putin has invited Trump to visit Russia next year to mark the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II.