Trump Doubles Down On Putin’s Denial: Probe Has ‘Driven A Wedge Between Us’

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump attends a joint press conference with the Russian President after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. - The US and Russian leaders opened an histori... TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump attends a joint press conference with the Russian President after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. - The US and Russian leaders opened an historic summit in Helsinki, with Donald Trump promising an "extraordinary relationship" and Vladimir Putin saying it was high time to thrash out disputes around the world. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS

Just minutes after he left journalists, lawmakers and former government officials in shock when he sided with Russia during a freewheeling press conference with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump doubled down on his support of Putin’s denial of Russian meddled in the 2016 election.

Recounting his one-on-one conversation with Putin during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the presser, Trump lamented that the Russia probe had placed a “wedge” between the U.S. and Russia

It is very sad what is happening to our country because of this,” he said. “When you see this thing going on and I will tell you, it has driven a wedge between us and Russia, maybe we’ve just knocked down that wedge, but it has driven a wedge and President Putin said, one of the early things that he said when we started, it’s really a shame because we could do so much good.”

He also grumbled that journalists chose to ask questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe during the press conference, when they could’ve asked about “nuclear proliferation” or humanitarian aid in Syria.

And we get questions on the witch hunt and I don’t think the people out in the country buy it, but the reporters like to give it a shot,” he said. “I thought that President Putin was very, very strong. … And he also said there’s absolutely no collusion, which you know and everybody that watches your show knows, and I think most of the country knows and and Tucker [Carlson] standing right over there definitely knows because he gets it.”

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  1. Trump lamented that the Russia probe had placed a “wedge” between the U.S. and Russia

    it’s all so very Romeo and Juliet, Romulans and Capuchins…

    Remind me if that one was a rom-com or a tragedy.

  2. Of course, he’s gonna double down.

    From The Daily Beast in an article entitled Trump Just Fell for ‘a Classic KGB Trick’:

    [quote]

    A Kremlin advisor suggested … last week that Putin, with his total command of facts and details, would shock and awe an American president who went into the meeting apparently believing that his gut would guide him to some sort of triumph. And from Putin’s opening statement to the close of the press conference, it was evident that is exactly what happened…

    Jarmo Koponen, a senior Finnish correspondent and Russia expert agreed: “Putin has been trained to be a mastermind of human souls, he is a specialist, so he’s really got Trump by the balls!” .[/quote]

  3. Hannity sez about trump:

    “You literally just finished the press conference with president Putin moments ago. A lot of stuff came up. You were very strong at the end of the press conference.”

    trump sez about Putin:

    “I thought that President Putin was very strong.”

    Yet EVERYBODY else saw how weak trump was / is.

  4. “When you see this thing going on and I will tell you, it has driven a wedge between us …"

    I think he got that language from Melania.

  5. I just had a sense of what it would be like if, as I suspect, we finish this whole saga never really knowing how much of this stuff is just his total constant bullshit approach to life and how much was genuine delusion. Just this strange detour in our history with a perpetual mystery lingering about how this broken mind worked, to the extent that it worked at all. So bizarre.

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