Montenegro more puzzled than affronted by Trump’s attention

The arrest was announced Monday hours after Trump finished a summit and a press conference with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, where the US leader rejected the USA intelligence community’s verdict that the Russians interfered to support him over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race.

The U.S. Secret Service says that’s standard for all gifts to the president.

Clinton offered her dismay at Trump administration priorities ranging from the now-discontinued policy of family separation for undocumented migrants to the trade wars threatened by Trump’s vows to impose high tariffs on trading partners.

If such agreements were indeed made, it seems the top USA officials tasked with carrying them out have not been informed.

But on Saturday, Coats said he never meant the comments as a slight to the president and blamed the media for mischaracterizing the response. Coats also said there was a “risk” the Russians recorded the private conversation between the two world leaders.

Asked by the interviewer Jeff Glor why he hasn’t specifically condemned Vladimir Putin and if he holds him personally responsible, President Trump said: “Well I would, because he’s in charge of the country”. I have President Putin – he just said it’s not Russian Federation. “That is the president’s prerogative”. “And to come out against him, as I believe she has recommended, would be totally inappropriate and totally wrong and I couldn’t disagree more”.

Then on Thursday, the White House said Trump “disagrees” with Putin’s offer to allow US questioning of 12 Russians who have been indicted for election interference in exchange for Russian interviews with the former USA ambassador to Russia and other Americans the Kremlin accuses of unspecified crimes.

There was more verbal drama at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, when Trump was asked by a reporter if Russian Federation was still targeting the U.S.

Coats was among several senior national security officials who have said they have not yet been briefed on the Helsinki summit. “Completely”, the unnamed diplomat said.

She wrote: “In Helsinki, President Trump agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs”.

Carlson pressed Trump on the objective of the alliance, which was originally created to prevent the Russians from invading western Europe and calls for member nations to come to the aid of any ally that is attacked. The senator said it will play right into Putin’s hands.

Sources close to the White House told The Washington Post earlier this week that West Wing staffers were in an uproar over Coats” comments, with one reportedly stating that the intelligence chief had “gone rouge’.

In a Tuesday night interview, President Trump once again stirred up fury among North Atlantic Treaty Organisation nations, this time by questioning the wisdom of the alliance’s collective defense terms.

The White House backtrack came just before the Senate voted overwhelmingly against the idea.

McKeon also said the “usual practice” after a meeting like Helsinki is for the NSC and the State Department to brief lawmakers as well as foreign allies in the aftermath. “It isn’t especially noteworthy to me”, he said.

The U.S. and Russia now have a communications link in Syria to avoid accidental military clashes, but the Russian proposals to work on refugee resettlement and rebuilding together would significantly expand their cooperative efforts.