[Rajoo]

by David Ignatius Opinion writer July 16 at 5:16 PM Email the author

President Trump was doing pretty well in Helsinki, really, laying out a modest but achievable agenda for improving U.S.-Russia relations. And then came the final question about whether Trump believed his own intelligence chiefs or Russian President Vladimir Putin — and in his weird, waffling answer, you could almost hear the fabric of his presidency rip at the seam.

Jonathan Lemire of the Associated Press was the reporter who asked Trump bluntly: “Who do you believe” about Russian election interference — Putin or U.S. intelligence? Trump initially spun some conspiratorial nonsense about missing Democratic computer servers and Hillary Clinton emails. And then this unforgettable statement:

“My people came to me, [Director of National Intelligence] Dan Coats came to me and some others, they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. . . . I have confidence in both parties.”

“It was unbelievable,” said a stunned Will Hurd, a Republican congressman from Texas and former CIA officer. “I would never have thought I’d see an American president being played by a foreign adversary in that way.”

Question is what are you guys going to do about it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.e8239976430e