Trump invites Putin to Washington amid US uproar on Helsinki summit
The invitation follows criticism of Trump's handling of the first summit with his Russian counterpart, particularly his seeming acceptance of Putin's denial that Moscow interfered in 2016 US election.
US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018.
President Donald Trump extended an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in Washington in the autumn, the White House said on Thursday.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Twitter that Trump had asked National Security Adviser John Bolton to invite Putin, adding, "Those discussions are already underway."
In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs. President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) July 19, 2018
The invitation was announced hours after the president tweeted that he looked forward to "our second meeting" as he defended his performance on Monday at the summit in which the two leaders conferred on a range of issues, including terrorism, Israeli security, nuclear proliferation and North Korea.
The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear........
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
"There are many answers, some easy and some hard, to these problems ... but they can ALL be solved!" Trump tweeted.
The announcement of the invitation came as the White House sought to clean up days of confounding statements on the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election that sent Trump to the presidency.
TRT World's Philip Owira reports.
Trump's public doubting of Russia's responsibility in a joint news conference with Putin on Monday provoked withering criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike and forced the president to make a rare public admission of error.
Even Trump's director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said he did not know what happened in Helsinki.
"Well, you're right, I don't know what happened at that meeting," Coats said in response to a question at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
TRT World spoke to Mary McCarthy who is following the developments from Los Angeles.
On Thursday, the White House said Trump "disagrees" with Putin's offer to swap the questioning of 12 Russians accused of 2016 election interference for an interview with the former US ambassador.
TRT World spoke to Lionel Donovan in Washington.
The White House retreated from what Trump had called Putin's "incredible offer" during the Helsinki summit, revising its position just before the Senate voted overwhelmingly against the plan. It was Congress' first formal rebuke of Trump's actions from the summit and its aftermath.
Sanders said Putin's proposal was "made in sincerity," but Trump "disagrees with it."
She said the US hopes Putin will have the indicted Russians "come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt."
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer immediately criticised the planned invitation.
"Until we know what happened at that two hour meeting in Helsinki, the president should have no more one-on-one interactions with Putin. In the United States, in Russia, or anywhere else," he said in a statement.
The last official visit by a Russian president to the United States was in June 2010, when Dmitri Medvedev, now Russian prime minister, visited the United States.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.