Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday proved to be an utter shock as the American president backs on Kremlin's purported meddling of the 2016 US presidential election.
In a joint press conference held at the Finnish capital, Trump affirmed the public on his confidence that the Russian leader has nothing to do with the cyber-attacks connected to the incumbent's 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump did reveal that the country's intelligence committee provided him with reports linking Moscow to the aforementioned security scandal. However, at the meeting, Trump pointed out Putin's blatant denial of the accusation to which he vaguely agreed into.
"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 but I really want to see the server but, I have confidence in both parties," the businessman-politician was quoted as saying.
Putin, on the other hand, did want Trump to win the presidency over the then-race opponent, Hillary Clinton, because of his policies. However, his support remains as that, maintaining his innocence to charges.
Trump's failure to publicly condemn the Kremlin's involvement in the said 2016 affair consequently draws flak from his own people.
White House chief intelligence officer Dan Coats meanwhile, defended the credibility of his office as implied in a statement quoted over by CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins.
The current Director of National Intelligence of the Trump administration said that their role is to provide nothing but "the best information and fact-based assessments possible" for the POTUS and his constituents.
"We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election...and we will continue to provide unvarnished and objective intelligence in support of our national security," Coats went on to say.
Meanwhile, John Brennan, the administration's stalwart critic in Washington, blatantly said that Trump's press performance in Helsinki "is nothing short of treasonous," while adding that he is "wholly in the pocket of Putin."
As reported earlier, one of the agendas of the bilateral meeting was for US and Russia to discuss arms issues including that of New START and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty or INF.
