He just -- every time he sees me, he says, "I didn't do that." And I believe -- I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, "I didn't do that." I think he's very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth.
Don't forget, all he said is he never did that, he didn't do that. I think he's very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country. Because again, if we had a relationship with Russia, North Korea -- which is our single biggest problem right now -- North Korea, it would be helped a lot. I think I'm doing very well with respect to China. They've cut off financing; they've cut off bank lines; they've cut off lots of oil and lots of other things, lots of trade. And it's having a big impact. But Russia, on the other hand, may be making up the difference. And if they are, that's not a good thing.
So having a relationship with Russia would be a great thing -- not a good thing -- it would be a great thing, especially as it relates to North Korea.
And I'll say this, Hillary had her stupid reset button that she spelled the word wrong, but she doesn't have what it takes to have that kind of a relationship where you could call or you could do something and they would pull back from North Korea, or they'd pull back from Syria, or maybe pull back from Ukraine. I mean, if we could solve the Ukraine problem --
But this is really an artificial barrier that's put in front of us for solving problems with Russia, and he says that very strongly. He really seems to be insulted by it, and he says he didn't do it. So --
I think that he is very, very strong in the fact that he didn't do it. And then you look, and you look at what's going on with Podesta, and you look at what's going on with the server from the DNC and why didn't the FBI take it, why did they leave it; why did a third party look at the server and not the FBI -- if you look at all of this stuff, and you say, what's going on here?
And then you hear it's 17 agencies. Well, it's three. And one is Brennan and one is whatever. I mean, give me a break. They're political hacks.
So you look at it -- I mean, you have Brennan, you have Clapper, and you have Comey. Comey is proven now to be a liar and he's proven to be a leaker.
So you look at that, and you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that. Now, you're not going to get into an argument. You're going to start talking about Syria and the Ukraine.
From Daniel Politi at Slate:
Experts say the discrepancy between the president and the intelligence community is troubling. "I am disturbed that our president believes a KGB agent and continues to refuse to believe the CIA. I can never remember a time in our history when this was so. I hope Trump's national security team will be more forceful in convincing the president of the basic facts of Russia's violation of our sovereignty last year,” said Michael McFaul, a professor of political science at Stanford University who was U.S. (November 11, 2017)
Former CIA director John Brennan... said Trump is demonstrating to world leaders that he can be “played” with a little ego stroking. “By not confronting the issue directly and not acknowledging to Putin that we know you’re responsible for this, I think he’s giving Putin a pass,” Brennan said. “I think it demonstrates to Mr. Putin that Donald Trump can be played by foreign leaders who are going to appeal to his ego and try to play upon his insecurities, which is very, very worrisome from a national security standpoint.” (November 12, 2017)
Ryan Goodman and John Sipher at The Atlantic
For those most worried about Trump’s casual use of lies for his own tactical benefit, it is the reality of Russia that is most frightening. It did not take long for Putin to weaken the elements of civil society and centralize power, creating an Alice in Wonderland political atmosphere where up can be down, and down can be up depending on his whim. Certainly, America’s institutions are stronger than Russia’s, and it is unlikely that Trump possesses Putin’s savvy. Nonetheless, the defiling of the truth and attacks on this country’s vital institutions are taking a toll and weakening America’s defenses.
Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook at Politico
Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, was unsparing in his criticism of Trump's remarks, dismissing them as naïve and dangerous.
“There's nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community. There's no ‘principled realism’ in cooperating with Russia to prop up the murderous Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to a political solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria," the Arizona Republican said in a statement. "Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.” (November 11, 2017)
Mr. Trump’s earlier comments inspired immediate ridicule from Democratic lawmakers, including Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the election.
“You know who else is insulted by it, Mr. President? The American people,” Mr. Schiff said on Twitter. “You believe a foreign adversary over your own intelligence agencies.”
Representative Ted Lieu, another California Democrat, called Mr. Trump “dumb as a rock.” Mr. Lieu wrote on Twitter that both he and Mr. Trump had seen classified information on Russia’s interference in the election, and that Mr. Trump’s comments were lies.
“Trump knows the Kremlin hacked America last year,” Mr. Lieu said. (November 11, 2017)
