President Trump this week confirmed that he has never confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin with intelligence reports that Russian units paid Taliban-linked militants to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
During a clip from an interview with “Axios on HBO” released Tuesday, Trump said he “never discussed it” with Putin during a phone call last week.
“That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news,” Trump said when pressed about why the matter wasn’t raised.
The New York Times reported in June that U.S. intelligence had concluded that an GRU, Moscow’s military intelligence agency, had offered the bounties to Afghan militants connected to the Taliban to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan, including U.S. troops, amid peace talks.
Subsequent reporting from The Washington Post found that intelligence assessments concluded that the payments led to the deaths of U.S. service members, and The Associated Press reported Monday that top White House officials were aware of intelligence indicating that Russia was offering the bounties in early 2019.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany later denied that Trump and Vice President Pence were briefed on the intelligence, but did not deny that the intelligence was accurate.
The information was reportedly included in at least one of the president’s written briefings in February.
Axios reported that Trump has spoken to Putin at least eight times since the intelligence was reportedly included in his briefing.
Trump told the news outlet that he would have “no problem” asking Putting about the reports but insisted that the intelligence “never reached my desk.”
“You know why? They — intelligence — they didn’t think it was real,” the president said. “They didn’t think it was worthy. If it reached my desk, I would have done something about it.”
It has been previously reported that Trump doesn’t always read the President’s Daily Brief from cover to cover, something he was asked about during his interview with Axios.
“I do, I read a lot. They like to say I don’t read but I read a lot. I comprehend extraordinarily well, probably better than anybody you’ve interviewed in a really long time,” the president said.
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JUST IN: Trump confirms he did not raise bounties with Putin https://t.co/z7MwICbJek pic.twitter.com/XqFvLlqeCm
— The Hill (@thehill) July 29, 2020This is deeply disturbing. Beyond admitting he never raised Russian bounties intel to Putin in at least 8 conversations, asked about Russia arming the Taliban, Trump says “Well, we supplied weapons when they were fighting Russia, too”. A Russian talking pt https://t.co/6yZkyPMyXo
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 29, 2020
Trump acknowledged yesterday in an interview with Axios that he did not raise reports of Russian bounties on American troops during his phone call last week with President Vladimir Putin https://t.co/6Met6GkFYt pic.twitter.com/W0yYEBQ211
— POLITICO (@politico) July 29, 2020
I am eager to hear the Republicans – you know, "The Party of National Security" – explain why bounties on U.S. service members is the same as U.S. aid to Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.
After all, that's the President's position.https://t.co/DWDY1LcWet— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 29, 2020
There is simply no logical way that this can be true. U.S. officials, including Secretary Pompeo in his own administration, have said for some time that they believe that Russia is sending arms to the Taliban to undermine the United States in Afghanistan.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) July 29, 2020
When @jonathanvswan says that was another era, Trump appears to shrug the issue off.
"I'm just saying," Trump said.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) July 29, 2020
What’s more disturbing than the fact it’s a Russian talking point is the logic behind it: “Well, it’s only fair they get a turn to supply our enemies so I won’t complain,” isn’t foreign policy, or putting America First, it’s profound stupidity. https://t.co/nIr0n6NqG7
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) July 29, 2020
Trump again says Russia bounty story was "fake issue." It wasn't. He says it "never reached my desk." It was in his PDB. He says "intelligence – they didn't think it was real." They did. And he says "if it reached my desk, I would have done something about it." It did, he didn't. https://t.co/WGlogJUD7Q
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) July 29, 2020
Trump is not going to question a dictator he admires and who may be pulling his strings. What does he care how many of our service people may have died as a result of the bounties? Like Obama before him, the military is just a prop to use when he is campaigning.
pic.twitter.com/oEbnc2cWbT https://t.co/VgTVTe4wd5
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 29, 2020
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