US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he is looking forward to extra meeting with Vladimir Putin, attacking media who failed to recognize the “great success” of their first meeting as the “enemy of the people.”
Trump has come under two-party fire at home for what many saw as his unsettling embrace of the Russian strongman this week in Helsinki — and the seeming disavowal of his own intelligence agencies and their assessment that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election.
The reaction has thrust the US leader onto the defensive — leading to several days of backtracking and conflicting statements from both the president and the White House.
“The Fake News Media wants so badly to see a major confrontation with Russia, even a confrontation that could lead to war,” Trump said.
“I look forward to our second conference so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed۔
Trump listed these as “stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear proliferation, cyber attacks, trade, Ukraine, Middle East peace, North Korea and more.”
According to opinion polls published on Thursday, a large majority of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the summit — but members of his Republican party approved by a wide margin.
While just one-third of Americans approved of Trump's handling of the Putin summit, that number rose to 68 per cent among Republicans, according to a CBS poll. Another poll, by Axios/Survey Monkey, showed Republican support at 79 per cent — compared to 40 per cent of respondents overall.
Among those Republicans expressing concern on Thursday was Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent voice on foreign policy in the party.
Trump wasn't “prepared as well as he should have been” for the meeting, Graham told reporters, adding that it is “imperative that he understands that he is misjudging Putin.”
