Thiessen: Trump remarks were an embarrassment, not a disaster Posted at

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting to get a different result, which is one of the many reasons President Trump's news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed so insane. Trump is trying to do something that both of his immediate predecessors tried to do: turn over a new leaf with Russia.

Amid criticism over Putin summit, Trump wants second meeting

President Donald Trump said Thursday he wants a second meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin to start implementing ideas they discussed at the Helsinki summit. Under fire over the first meeting, Trump accused the news media of trying to provoke a confrontation with Moscow that could lead to war.

The Latest: Trump tweets that ‘Fake News Media’ wants war Source: AP

A top GOP senator says President Donald Trump needs to understand that he's "misjudging" Russian leader Vladimir Putin . Sen. Lindsey Graham says Trump's had a "bad week" when it comes to Russia in the wake of the Trump-Putin summit Monday in Helsinki.

Ex-DNI chief confirms Trump was briefed on Putina s involvement in 2016 election

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed Thursday that Donald Trump was briefed on US intelligence findings that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered cyberattacks to attempt to sway the 2016 presidential election. Clapper told CNN's "New Day" that he and other intelligence officers briefed Trump, who was President-elect at the time, and his team on January 6, 2017.

Trump displays his post-election collusion

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Amid harsh criticism, Trump tries a tougher tone on Russia Source: AP

President Donald Trump spent a second day managing the political fallout from his widely criticized meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, shifting stances and mopping up what the White House said were misstatements. His toughness with the longtime American foe in question, Trump said Wednesday he told the Russian president face-to-face during Monday's summit to stay out of America's elections "and that's the way it's going to be."

.com | WATCH: Trump says he told Putin ‘we can’t have meddling’ in US vote

Under fire as siding with the Kremlin, US President Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that he told Russian leader Vladimir Putin firmly during their summit in Helsinki that the United States would not tolerate meddling in its elections. "I let him know we can't have this, we're not going to have it, and that's the way it's going to be," Trump said in an interview with CBS.

Can Trump’s Republican Critics Find Strength in Numbers?

While more Republicans than usual criticized Trump's dizzying news conference with Vladimir Putin earlier this week, the possibility of a sustained backlash inside the party is already dwindling. It's splintering against the same rocks that quickly ended the uprising last summer over Trump's comments on white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia: the refusal of congressional Republicans to offer more than cursory questioning of his behavior, much less impose any consequences for it.

From the start, a muddied message on Russia

Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 election. The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Putin, who had described to the CIA how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.

Confusion lingers on Trump, Russia

For the third straight day, President Trump cast doubt on whether he views Russia as a threat, despite warnings from his own government that Moscow continues to target the United States with hostile actions. Trump triggered a new uproar Wednesday morning when he appeared to suggest that Russia is no longer seeking to interfere in US elections.

White House, State at odds over Putin’s interview proposal

The White House and the State Department are at odds over Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to allow the U.S. access to Russians accused of election meddling in return for interviews of Americans accused by the Kremlin of unspecified crimes. Even as the White House said the offer, made by Putin to President Donald Trump at their summit in Helsinki on Monday, was under consideration, the State Department called Russia's allegations against the Americans "absurd," suggesting that any questioning of them would not be countenanced by the U.S. The Russian claims against the Americans, including former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, relate to allegations of fraud and corruption.

Trump’s – no’ adds to swirl of confusion

Washington: US President Donald Trump has sowed even more confusion over his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisting after a day of conflicting statements about Russia's interference in the 2016 election that he had actually laid down the law with Putin. "We're not going to have it, and that's the way it's going to be."

FBI Director Wray says Putin’s offer of joint probe on Russian…

In the barrage of headlines about President Donald Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the head of the FBI sat down and offered his thoughts Wednesday on an assortment of issues, including the president's meeting this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. FBI Director Christopher Wray, in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, was very clear that Russia "continues to engage in malign influence efforts to this day."

Amid harsh criticism, Trump tries a tougher tone on Russia

President Donald Trump spent a second day managing the political fallout from his widely criticized meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin, shifting stances and mopping up what the White House said were misstatements. His toughness with the longtime American foe in question, Trump said Wednesday he told the Russian president face-to-face during Monday's summit to stay out of America's elections "and that's the way it's going to be."

White House struggles to contain fallout from Trump-Putin summit

Trump, facing a political uproar over his failure to confront Putin during their Helsinki summit on Monday over Russia's 2016 U.S. election meddling, adopted his usual defiant posture, calling his critics deranged. Asked by reporters before a morning Cabinet meeting at the White House whether Russia was still targeting the United States, Trump shook his head and said, "No."