While we all process the information that Donald Trump Jr. met with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign, Donald Sr. is dealing with the aftermath of his long, chummy meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump walked back plans for his own joint cyber security unit with Russia, but apparently things are great:
Issuing his first public comments since sitting down with Putin in Germany, Trump vowed to “move forward in working constructively with Russia” and said the two leaders were discussing a cybersecurity unit that would protect against the kinds of illegal intrusions that U.S. intelligence agencies say Putin ordered in the United States. [...]
The president responded to the criticism late Sunday, tweeting his own doubts that a cyber unit could work. “The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t — but a ceasefire can, & did!” he wrote, referring to an agreement among the United States, Russia and Jordan in a region of Syria.
Trump said that he “strongly pressed” Putin twice about Russian meddling and that Putin “vehemently denied it.” Trump did not indicate whether he accepted Putin’s denial, saying only, “I’ve already given my opinion.”
So Trump is going to move forward in working constructively with Russia, although not on the cyber security unit that he previously touted, and he absolutely got tough with Putin about election interference, but is not going to talk about his response to Putin’s denial. Yup, sounds like that went just great.