President Trump
Donald John TrumpBiden hits Trump’s ‘law and order’ message: he’s trying to ‘scare the devil’ out of people Pelosi hits Barr after testimony: ‘It was like a blot’ and Trump Schumer’s ‘henchman’: Trump should want COVID-19 deal to aid Republican election opportunities MORE this week confirmed that he never faced the Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Russia Aiming To Approve COVID-19 Vaccine Within Weeks: Putin Report Says Russian Navy Closer To Obtaining Hypersonic Guns Trump Talks About Coronavirus, Gun Control In Phone Call With Putin MORE with intelligence reports that Russian units paid Taliban-linked militants to attack US troops in Afghanistan.
During a clip of an interview with “Axios on HBO” released on 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 it’s an issue that a lot of people said was fake news,” Trump said when asked why the matter was not raised.
The New York Times reported in June that US intelligence concluded that a GRU, the Moscow military intelligence agency, had offered rewards to Afghan militants connected to the Taliban for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan, including US troops, amid peace talks.
Subsequent reports from The Washington Post found that intelligence evaluations concluded that the payments resulted in the death of U.S. service members. Associated Press reported Monday that senior White House officials were aware of intelligence indicating that Russia was offering the rewards in early 2019.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany later denied that Trump and Vice President Pence were informed about the intelligence, but did not deny that the information was accurate.
The information was reportedly included in at least one of the president’s written reports in February.
Axios reported that Trump has spoken to Putin at least eight times since the information was included in his report.
Trump told the news outlet that he would have “no problem” asking Putting about the reports, but insisted that intelligence “never came to my desk.”
“You know why? They didn’t think it was real, intelligence,” said the president. “They didn’t think it was worth it. If it got to my desk, I would have done something about it. ”
It was previously reported that Trump does not always read the President’s Daily Report from start to finish, something he was asked during his interview with Axios.
“Yes, I read a lot. They like to say that I don’t read, but I read a lot. I understand extraordinarily well, probably better than anyone I have interviewed in a long time, ”said the president.
Initially, Trump called the information on Russian rewards a “hoax” and his national security adviser Robert O’Brien agreed with the sentiment, insisting that Trump would take “firm action” if the allegations were verified.
“I think what is a hoax is the initial report, and I think this was in The New York Times, that the president had been informed about this unverified and uncorroborated intelligence and decided not to take action on it,” said O ‘ Brien. “That was a hoax, and there is no question about it.”
The Russian government and Taliban officials have denied reports of the alleged rewards.
The Defense Department said last month that it had not yet validated the reported intelligence.
However, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and Fox News published reports confirming the Times reports.
Trump has been criticized for being too friendly with Putin since the beginning of his presidency.
In particular, he doubted American intelligence during a 2018 press conference alongside Putin in Helsinki, Finland, where he publicly questioned American intelligence that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
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