‘We both have made some mistakes’: Trump says Russia DOES share blame in tension between the two nations – but Mueller’s probe has been a ‘disaster’ because there was ‘no collusion’ and ‘everybody knows it’
President Trump is in Helsinki for his summit with Vladimir Putin
He began Monday by bashing the special counsel probe, ‘Crooked Hillary’ and former President Barack Obama
He went after U.S. ‘foolishness and stupidity’ dealing with Russia
Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs said it agreed with him in a reply tweet
The Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military intelligence officers Friday
Trump earlier vented that no matter how well he does he won’t be appreciated
Said that would apply even if ‘I was given the great city of Moscow’
Blasted the media as the ‘enemy of the people,’ a term used in Soviet times
Said at press conference that he believes ‘both countries’ are to blame for decades of tension between the two nations
Trump did not say where exactly Moscow went wrong, however, as he pivoted to a degradation of Mueller’s probe and his claim that there’s ‘no collusion’
‘There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it,’ he argued.’We ran a brilliant campaign. And that’s why I’m president’
By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
DAILYMAIL.COM
16 July 2018
President Donald Trump said Monday that he holds ‘both’ Russia and the United States responsible for hostilities between the two nations after blaming Washington in an early morning tweet for tensions.
Trump did not say where exactly Moscow went wrong, however, as he pivoted to a degradation of the special counsel investigation that’s reviewing election meddling in 2016 and allegations of collusion and obstruction of justice.
‘Yes, I do. I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we have all been foolish,’ he said. ‘We should have had this dialogue a long time ago, a long time frankly before I got to office. And I think we’re all to blame.’
The American president said that Robert Mueller’s special counsel probe has been ‘a disaster’ for the United States, because it kept the world’s two greatest nuclear powers from holding talks sooner than his second year in office.
‘There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it,’ he said. ‘That was a clean campaign. I beat Hillary Clinton easily.’
Asked why Americans should believe Putin when he says he did not know about a campaign led by Russian intelligence operatives to disrupt the election, Trump jumped in to defend himself again, saying he won the electoral college ‘by a lot’ after a ‘well-fought battle’ with Clinton.
‘There was no collusion,’ he once again asserted. ‘I didn’t know the president. There was nobody to collude with in the campaign. There was no collusion with the campaign.’
Referring to the Russians who were indicted by Mueller for their role in election hacking, Trump said, ‘These are not people involved in the campaign.
‘But to the average reader out there, they are saying, well maybe that does. It doesn’t. Even the people involved, some perhaps told mis-stories,’ he said. ‘Or in one case the FBI said there was no lie. There was no lie. Somebody else said there was. We ran a brilliant campaign. And that’s why I’m president.’
Trump set the tone for his high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday by tweeting about ‘Crooked Hillary’ and the ‘Rigged Witch Hunt’ – and claiming that Washington is to blame for frosty relations between the two countries.
He also claimed that President Obama thought Russian meddling was ‘no big deal’ in a message blasting his predecessor.
‘Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!’ Trump wrote.
In faulting the U.S. for the bitter relationship that has ebbed and flowed for decades and turned especially toxic after election meddling charges in 2016, Trump curried favor with Moscow in advance of Putin’s arrival.
Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs said ‘we agree’ in a tweet responding to the shocking accusation.
The Rest…HERE
