‘DO NOT CONGRATULATE’ Briefing Materials Read
President Donald Trump was specifically and clearly warned by his team of national security advisors to not congratulate Russian President Vladimir Putin on his election “win,” as it was neither a free nor fair election. Ignoring decades of U.S. policy and his advisors, including the embattled H.R. McMaster, Trump did congratulate Putin, according to The Washington Post.
Trump also ignored the direction to castigate the Russian president for a series of poisonings in the U.K., including one earlier this month of a former Russian spy with a nerve agent created by the Russian Federation. Prime Minister Theresa May and other world leaders have condemned Putin for the near-deadly attack. The U.S. president did not even mention it.
Nor did President Trump discuss Russia’s attacks on the U.S. election system or the U.S. power grid.
The president characterized his telephone conversation with Putin as “very good call,” and added, “We’ll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future.”