Standing side-by-side with Vladimir Putin yesterday, US President Donald Trump refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 elections, casting doubt on the findings of his own intelligence agencies and sparking a storm of criticism at home.
On a day when he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump said not a single critical word about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.
Instead, he denounced the “stupidity” of his own country’s policy, especially the decision to investigate election interference following the findings of US intelligence agencies.
A prosecutor announced an indictment three days ago of Russian spies for hacking into Democratic Party networks.
Trump’s performance at a joint news conference in Helsinki stirred a wave of condemnation in the United States, where the White House has struggled for months to dispel a suggestion that Trump was unwilling to stand up to Putin.
His performance was denounced as “treasonous” by a former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief and condemned as “shameful” by a Republican senator, although some other Republicans were more cautious.
Asked if he believed US intelligence agencies, which concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, he said he was not convinced.
“I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia, Trump said. “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
In one response, the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, a Trump nominee approved by Congress, said in a statement: “We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy, and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security.”
Before the summit even began, Trump blamed his own country for the deterioration in relations.
“Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of US foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” he said on Twitter.
The Russian foreign ministry tweeted back: “We agree”.
At the news conference, Trump was invited by reporters to offer any criticism of Russia but he repeatedly declined.
Asked if Russia was at all to blame for the poor ties, the US president said: “I hold both countries responsible.” 
“I think the US has been foolish. We’ve all been foolish,” he said, before veering into discussion about his election victory. “I beat Hillary Clinton easily and frankly we beat her ... we won that race and it’s a shame that there can be even a little bit of a cloud over it.”
Trump’s warm words for Russia were a marked contrast from the past week when he repeatedly rebuked traditional US allies at a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and during a visit to Britain.
Asked if Putin was an adversary, he said: “Actually I called him a competitor and a good competitor he is and I think the word competitor is a compliment.”
Putin spoke of the importance of the two countries working together and praised Trump, at one point interrupting the news conference to give the US president a soccer ball.
Asked whether he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election and had instructed officials to help him, Putin said “Yes I did”, although he denied any interference, saying the allegations were “complete nonsense”.
The summit caps a trip abroad during which Trump accused Nato allies of failing to spend enough on their militaries and embarrassed British Prime Minister Theresa May by saying that she refused to take his advice about how to negotiate Britain’s exit from the EU.
He referred to the European Union itself as a “foe” in trade and repeatedly criticised it.
EU President Donald Tusk suggested that the US president was “spreading fake news” by calling Europe a US foe.
“America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news,” Tusk tweeted late on Sunday during an EU-China summit in Beijing, without naming Trump directly.
Trump often uses the term “fake news” when he disagrees with news reports.
“Europe and China, America and Russia, today in Beijing and in Helsinki, are jointly responsible for improving the world order, not for destroying it,” Tusk said in a separate tweet.
“I hope this message reaches Helsinki,” the former Polish premier added.
Tusk echoed broader fears that Trump is tearing down the post-World War II order in which the United States built a system of alliances and rules to advance peace and prosperity.
In the run-up to last week’s Nato summit in Brussels, Tusk delivered a blunt message to Trump to stop criticising European allies.
“The US doesn’t have and won’t have a better ally than the EU. We spend on defence much more than Russia and as much as China,” Tusk said. “Dear America, appreciate your allies, after all you don’t have that many.”
And in some of the strongest words yet reflecting the unease of Washington’s traditional allies, Germany’s foreign minister said yesterday that Europe could no longer rely on the United States.
“To maintain our partnership with the USA we must readjust it,” Heiko Maas told the Funke newspaper group. “The first clear consequence can only be that we need to align ourselves even more closely in Europe.”






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