Amid Bipartisan Anger, Trump Defends His Congratulatory Call to Putin

His justification follows a report that the president had specific instructions not to do it.

ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his reelection victory on Sunday—an outcome most of the international community had deemed a foregone conclusion—and continued his longstanding view that a cozy relationship with the Kremlin was more favorable to the United States than a negative one.

The justification comes amid mounting frustration by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the congratulatory phone call. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Wednesday slammed the conversation and said that he would have personally refused to talk to a “criminal” such as Putin. On Wednesday, Trump portrayed the criticism as just another media-generated plot to force him to unfairly punish Putin.

But even the White House staff was not enthusiastic about the call. According to the Washington Post, the president ignored specific briefing instructions from his own aides not to congratulate Putin. The fast-moving leak has reportedly infuriated White House chief of staff John Kelly.

The Trump administration on Wednesday attempted to convince the Senate Judiciary committee that it was taking steps to ensure Russia will not be able to interfere in upcoming US elections, but lawmakers did not seem convinced. “I hear no sense of urgency to really get on top of this issue,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate