White House: Trump ‘Disagrees’ With Putin’s Proposal To Question Americans

HELSINKI, FINLAND JULY 16, 2018: US President Donald Trump (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin give a joint news conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by ... HELSINKI, FINLAND JULY 16, 2018: US President Donald Trump (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin give a joint news conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Thursday that President Donald Trump “disagrees” with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to haul in a list of Americans for questioning in exchange for giving the U.S. access to the 12 indicted Russian hackers.

“It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” Sanders said in a written statement. “Hopefully President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt.”

On Monday during the press conference after the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, Trump called the idea an “incredible offer.” On Wednesday, Sanders said that the team was still debating whether or not they’d made the trade.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, one of the Americans on the list, has been outspoken in his anger that Trump did not outrightly reject the deal, and has been backed up by many State Department officials.

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