The mainstream media has been building up the Trump-Russia election collusion story for months — and Friday, it all came apart at the seams.
What will the media talk about now? President Donald Trump opened his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday by hammering Putin over U.S. intelligence concerns about Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. He said Putin denied being involved.
A day after Trump complained that former President Barack Obama didn’t do enough to stop Putin’s election meddling, he took matters into his own hands. The two leaders closed-door confrontation lasted for over two hours.
But it wasn’t all high tension. While meeting, Trump and Putin also came to a deal involving a ceasefire in Syria — one that experts believe will help end hasten the end to the conflict and allow thousands of refugees to return to a normal life (in their own country).
Trump’s decision to confront Putin directly over election interference fulfilled ardent demands by U.S. lawmakers of both parties that the president not shy away from the issue in his highly anticipated meeting with Putin.
Putin’s denial of culpability notwithstanding, he and Trump agreed that the issue has become a hindrance to better relations between the two powers, said Tillerson, who attended the meeting along with Russia’s foreign minister. Tillerson said the discussion about the election meddling was “robust and lengthy.”
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tillerson said the two leaders had agreed to continue the discussion, with an eye toward securing a commitment that Russia won’t interfere in U.S. affairs in the future.
“I think the president is rightly focused on how do we move forward from something that may be an intractable disagreement at this point,” Tillerson said.
In their meeting, the two also discussed a ceasefire deal for southwestern Syria that was reached by Russia and the United States s. Though the U.S. and Russia have held conflicting views on Syria in the past, Tillerson said Russia had an interest in seeing the Mideast nation become a stable place.
The heavily anticipated meeting has been closely scrutinized for signs of how friendly a rapport Trump and Putin will have. Trump’s predecessor, Obama, was often criticized for his inability to handle Putin and was blamed for emboldening the strongman — and straining U.S.-Russian relations. Trump has expressed an interest in a better U.S.-Russia relationship.
The Putin meeting came midway through a hectic, four-day European visit for Trump, who addressed thousands of Poles in an outdoor speech in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday. He met in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit host, and had dinner with two Asian allies — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in — to discuss North Korea’s aggression.
The Associated Press contributed to this article