It seems more and more likely that Putin has something on Trump. I can’t explain Trump’s anti-American, pro-Russian behavior otherwise.
It’s also clear Republicans won’t hold him accountable. Sure, a few will issue statements but not will pass bills to keep him in check. Some of the statements don’t even mention Trump by name because the authors are cowards. Trump won’t listen to his own staff or Congress. He’ll listen to Putin.
A fact check of the Trump-Putin news conference https://t.co/HZ49vt8Eaw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 17, 2018
"As he did after white supremacists beat their opponents in Charlottesville, Mr. Trump reached in Helsinki for a kind of moral equivalence."@MarkLandler >https://t.co/F7yW6DTCKe
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) July 16, 2018
This is basically Trump’s Charlottesville speech saga repeated in international relations: everyone told him to criticize one side, every other president would have criticized that one side, instead he improvised criticism of “both sides,” it triggered a rare bipartisan outcry.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 16, 2018
And, so far, action by *none* of them.
(Waiting / hoping to be proven wrong about this.) https://t.co/DEuZ5cqjsA
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) July 16, 2018
"In any other administration, there would be resignations" https://t.co/JhPuXb3YQm
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 16, 2018
The 21 most disturbing lines from Donald Trump's press conference with Vladimir Putin https://t.co/95HnGxJNFi pic.twitter.com/h8t5mc3mNy
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) July 16, 2018
So sad. These are the heirs to Americans who took on the most powerful King & military in the world to create a country & they don’t have the courage to tell their boss to act like an American. https://t.co/jJKrGOhD71
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 16, 2018
"I just have no words. As press in this room, we are all sitting in here speechless and stunned. Trump cast doubt over the U.S. intelligence community and endorsed Putin’s denial" writes @jonathanvswan from Helsinki https://t.co/Ul4MPunwAS
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) July 16, 2018
The White House had planned for Trump to “push Putin” at today’s presser, thinking any confrontational approach would come as a surprise and “make him look good,” one official said.
“Obviously, it didn’t happen,” the official said. @PeterWSJ https://t.co/YnWAMo4lNE
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) July 16, 2018
His statements—and his loyalties—were crystal clear. Nobody could have misinterpreted how much he sided with Putin over America. https://t.co/3Ld9m1lu6J
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 16, 2018
See the “Behind the scenes” section for White House reaction
A US ambassador tells @eliselabottcnn that “Putin is very happy tonight but we are all in shock.” (The ambassador did not want their country disclosed publicly)
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) July 16, 2018
White House officials are openly admitting they don’t know how to respond to questions about President Trump’s press conference. Asked if anyone from the administration will resign over the president’s remarks, a senior White House official quipped, “Good question.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 16, 2018
Corrected? Like Charlottesville? Other than providing cover to Rs, why ask Trump to make a ritualistic apology when it was clear today, as in Charlottesville, that he said exactly what he meant the first time-and it's those sentiments that will govern his behavior going forward? https://t.co/q7huQrtJHj
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) July 16, 2018
Trump repeats that the Mueller probe is responsible for trouble in the Russian-American relationship, not Russia’s intervention in the election: “The probe is a disaster for our country. It’s kept us separated."
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 16, 2018
Everyone is numb and in shock. We can’t believe what we just witnessed, but for me it’s this simple: The President of the United States openly colluded with Putin to undermine our democracy.
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) July 16, 2018
Even his own crew. https://t.co/al25mIvH5e
— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) July 16, 2018
I guess doing the show and just being honest wasn’t an option. https://t.co/UuinUn8pyW
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 16, 2018
The verdict in Finland pic.twitter.com/qMboN6S2r6
— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) July 16, 2018
Here’s how the White House is spinning the Helsinki summit, per talking points sent to Capitol Hill: pic.twitter.com/VWyruOBNIL
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 17, 2018
Sad! 