President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone on Tuesday, a senior White House official confirmed to the Washington Examiner, just one day after the White House told reporters that the two leaders had no plans to talk.
Putin won re-election on Sunday by an overwhelming margin in a contest some international observers described as being rigged in his favor.
The White House said Monday Trump was “not surprised” by the outcome, but stopped short of denouncing Russia’s electoral system.
Trump’s relationship with Putin has been under intense scrutiny since he took office amid allegations his campaign colluded with Russians to sway public opinion during the 2016 presidential race. While congressional and FBI investigators have yet to unveil evidence of collusion, Russia’s efforts to interfere in the U.S. election have prompted the Trump administration to issue sanctions against Moscow and keep a diplomatic distance from a leader Trump as a candidate promised to befriend.
The Kremlin characterized the call between Trump and Putin as a congratulatory gesture Trump extended to his Russian counterpart.
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JUST IN: Trump calls to congratulate Vladimir Putin on Russian election victory https://t.co/wpTheCDZa8 pic.twitter.com/w8H0akuSq6
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 20, 2018
Sucking up to the boss again. https://t.co/zFupoOAr7o
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 20, 2018
LOL @ Rick Wilson. But probably true.
You would think, under the circumstances of the present investigation, Trump would try to distance himself from Putin as much as possible. If sucking up to Putin doesn’t make Trump look guilty of something, I don’t know what does.
WH press sec Sanders says Trump did not discuss with Putin the recent nerve agent assassination attempts on British soil for which Britain is holding Russia responsible
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) March 20, 2018
McCain: “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election…”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 20, 2018
Trump admin with two very different responses to sham elections by dictators:
July 2017: Trump hits Venezuela with sanctions after holding sham election.
March 2018: Trump congratulates Putin and Sarah Huckabee Sanders says, “We don’t get to dictate how other countries operate,"— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) March 20, 2018
President Trump: "I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on the victory … We'll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control." pic.twitter.com/JGk9V2biwX
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 20, 2018
Not only was congratulating Putin a bad idea, but I have no idea what that second part means, especially after an NPR that could have been summed up as “build more nukes.” https://t.co/WDCFO3OdNp
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 20, 2018
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