Trump is suddenly 'very concerned'
US President Donald Trump gives the impression that he possesses a short memory. He also leaves no one in any doubt that he can be self-contradictory as it suits him. Is there a method or design behind such madness? He alone can tell. A week after downplaying Russian interference in the US elections, he said he was "very concerned" that Russia will look to impact the 2018 midterm elections, adding that he believed that Moscow would look to boost the Democrats this time. He offered no evidence for his claim that Russia would look to help the Democrats win in 2018 beyond claiming that he has been tougher on Russia than his predecessors. "I'm very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats," Trump tweeted on Tuesday."They definitely don't want Trump!"Amazing that he claims to be the President who has been toughest on Russia -- either he does not know or he has a very short memory. Trump's tweet comes a week after he faced blistering criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike for touting Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election and challenging the US intelligence community's assessment of that interference. Trump partially walked back his comments after returning to the US by saying he misspoke when he said he didn't see why "it would be Russia". But the next day, Trump replied "no" when asked if he believed Russia was still targeting the US. The US intelligence community concluded after the 2016 election that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign and help Trump win. While Putin denied any Russian interference last week, he confirmed that he did want Trump to win the presidency "because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal". Still, Trump's tweet on Tuesday is the US President's firmest confirmation to date of ongoing Russian attempts to interfere in the US democratic process. The Trump administration has levelled sanctions against Russia and expelled alleged spies working in the US on diplomatic cover; but, Trump has faced criticism for offering little public criticism of Russian actions. Whereas Trump has fiercely criticised close US allies in the recent months, he has offered little to no criticism of Russian actions around the world. Instead, ahead of his summit with Putin, he blamed souring US-Russia relations on the previous US administrations and the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Pressing on the point during a news conference in Helsinki, Trump said that both the US and Russia were to blame for the nadir in relations.
