U.S. Senators from Massachusetts and Connecticut reacted negatively Monday to President Trump’s one-on-one meeting and joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During the press event in Finland, Trump said he sees no reason why Russia would interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. His comment came after more than two hours of private talks with Putin.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said Trump should not have met with Putin in the first place, calling it a big mistake on the heels of intense criticism of European allies.
“A dozen indictments were just handed down on Friday,” Warren said Monday. “And these indictments are evidence that Russian agents hacked into our electoral system. We need a strong response as a government, not [to] attack our allies and cozy up to the very country that has sponsored this.”
Warren is concerned about Russian interference in the upcoming mid-term elections, adding the administration has shown reluctance to make the electoral system stronger, and less vulnerable to attack.
Once again, @realDonaldTrump takes to the international stage to embarrass America, undermine our institutions, weaken our alliances, & embrace a dictator. Russia interfered in our elections & attacked our democracy. Putin must be held accountable – not rewarded. Disgraceful.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 16, 2018
Trump resisted when asked Monday to condemn Russian meddling in the election. Instead, he complained about a Democratic National Committee computer server and emails belonging to Hillary Clinton, the Democrat he defeated to win the presidency.
Trump repeated the Russian leader's denials about involvement in the election.
Trump said of Putin: "He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
Before Monday’s summit, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey co-signed a letter calling on Trump to extend an arms control treaty with Russia by five years. But Markey’s disappointment on the day of the summit focused on an apparent failure to prioritize American interests.
“It is a national embarrassment that President Trump would put defending the legitimacy of his own election over defending American democracy and its people,” Markey said in a statement. “President Trump turned this meeting with President Putin into a fawning conversation when we needed a forceful confrontation. [...] President Trump practically invited President Putin to continue interfering with our election and undermining our sacred democracy. President Putin got everything he could have wanted from this meeting, while the United States got nothing.”
Trump wasted this opportunity, undermined his own intelligence community, and disgraced the office of the Presidency. Putin got everything he could have wanted from this meeting, while the U.S. got nothing. The #Helsinki Humiliation is a national embarrassment.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) July 16, 2018
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal called the summit a “gift to Vladimir Putin.” He said Trump’s comments “were deeply embarrassing and desperately weak,” as the American president appears to believe “a KGB thug over our own intelligence community and law enforcers.”
America needs to hit back – hit back hard – on Russian cyberattacks on our democracy. We must act with our allies, not trash & demean them. Now more than ever, NATO matters.
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) July 16, 2018
Before leaving for Finland, Trump said in an interview with CBS that the European Union is a foe of the U.S. “because of what they do to us in trade.” He then said he sees Russia as a “foe in certain respects,” and China as a “foe economically.”
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy reacted to Trump’s criticism of European allies. Murphy is a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation.
“President Trump is making a potentially catastrophic mistake by alienating the very countries we rely on most,” Murphy said in statement last week. “The president needs to understand that we do not belong to NATO to fulfill a sense of charity for other nations, but out of a totally self-serving desire to protect our own. NATO keeps America safe, full stop. After all, only one NATO country has ever asked the others to come to their defense – the United States.”
This entire trip has just been one giant middle finger from President Trump to his own country. Just jaw dropping. https://t.co/pH2GzgpALJ
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 16, 2018
Trump has argued that there is little to gain from discussing the issue of election interference with Putin.
“What am I going to do?” Trump said. “He may deny it. I mean, it’s one of those things. All I can do is say, ‘Did you?’ and ‘Don’t do it again.'"
NPR reports that national security adviser John Bolton anticipated criticism like this weeks before the Putin summit. But he said Trump would not be deterred by what he called "political noise."
This report includes information from NPR, The Associated Press and WBUR.
