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World  

Trump: 'Me First'?

Donald Trump's "America First" slogan morphed into "Me First" as the president unloaded on the U.S. intelligence community and Justice Department to portray himself as the victim of a conspiracy to deny him legitimacy. Trump also blamed American "foolishness and stupidity" for the poor state of U.S.-Russia relations, returning to themes he has repeated at political rallies around the United States.

This time, though, he was on foreign soil, standing next to Vladimir Putin, the very man whose government is accused of interfering in the 2016 election to favour Trump. As such, his extraordinary performance on Monday fueled criticism of his presidency from both the right and left. And it will likely embolden Putin, who faced no pushback from Trump over the election allegations or a long list of other Kremlin actions, ranging from Syria to Ukraine.

Sure enough, critics and even some usually reliable defenders were quick to pounce.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., a cautious Trump supporter, said, "The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally." And Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who has been critical of the Russia probe, said that "Russia is not our friend" and expressed hope that Trump's national security aides could convince him that "it is possible to conclude Russia interfered with our election in 2016 without delegitimizing his electoral success."

But after his two-hour, one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Trump cast doubt on U.S. intelligence findings that Russia interfered in the election, and he dismissed special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into the meddling, suggesting there is no reason to doubt Putin's denials of malfeasance.

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," he said.

Current and former Trump White House and campaign officials describe the president as obsessed by any suggestion that his elevation to the White House came as anything other than the product of his own hard work. They say the former reality star and relentless tabloid self-promoter believes that any suggestion of Russian interference undermines his victory — and his brand.



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