Former intelligence officials fear that President Donald Trump is manipulated by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The fears come after Trump said that he believes that Putin is sincere when he says that Russia did not interference in last year’s presidential election.
“I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations… It’s either naiveté, ignorance or fear in terms of what Mr. Trump is doing vis-à-vis the Russians,” former CIA Director John Brennan said. Meanwhile, former National Intelligence Director, James Clapper, believes that Trump can be easily manipulated by those who roll out red carpet for him.
“I do think both the Chinese and the Russians think they can play him,” Clapper said. These comments are ridiculous for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
“President Trump is not getting played by anybody,” Mnuchin said.
Over the weekend Trump said that he and Putin have once again talked about the alleged Russian meddling in 2016 election. The president emphasized that Putin has denied involvement.
“I really believe that, when he tells me that, he means it. I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country,” Trump said.
He has previously called Brennan, Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey “political hacks” and has questioned the findings of the report of the American intelligence agencies which said that Russia did interfere in the election. But, now Trump says he trusts the intelligence leaders. Brennan said that Trump’s criticism was a badge of honor and did not want to say whether he knows of intelligence that suggests that the Russians have some kind of information on Trump.
Be the first to comment