Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday issued a veiled rejection of the president’s recent remarks on NATO, the European Union, and Russia.
President Donald Trump described the European Union as a “foe” on Saturday after a NATO summit in Brussels and ahead of a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Russia, he said, is a “foe in certain respects.” Then, during a press conference with Putin after their Monday meeting, the president entertained Putin’s denial of election interference and said he didn’t “see any reason why it would be” Russia.
“For myself, let me just say to our European friends, we value the NATO treaty,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s been the most significant military alliance in world history.”
As Trump took part in a NATO summit overseas last week, the Senate passed a resolution in support of NATO, a frequent subject of the president’s criticism. A group of lawmakers also introduced a resolution Tuesday reiterating support for sanctions levied against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea.
McConnell appeared to take on the president’s description of the European Union as a “foe.”
“We believe the European Union countries are our friends, and the Russians are not,” he said. McConnell listed an array of malign Russian activities such as the annexation of Crimea and “the indisputable evidence that they tried to impact the 2016 election.”
“I would say to our friends in Europe, we understand the Russian threat, and I think that is the widespread view here in the United States Senate among members of both parties,” he concluded.
McConnell did not mention the president by name, and in response to a question later said, “I’m not here to critique anyone else. I’m here to speak for myself.”
During the press conference on Monday, Trump described Russia as a “good competitor” and blamed both the United States and Russia for strained relations.
When one reporter asked the president who he believes about election interference, Putin or the U.S. intelligence community, Trump said that while he had “great confidence” in his intelligence advisers, “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
“My people came to me, Dan Coats came to me and some others, they said they think it’s Russia,” he said. “I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Shortly after McConnell’s remarks, Trump, in scheduled remarks, said he misspoke on Monday.
“In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word “would” instead of “wouldn’t,”” he said. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t,’ or “why it wouldn’t be Russia.””
“I’ve said this many times, I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” said the president. “Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
The president’s remarks on Monday drew condemnation from both parties, with many Republicans reaffirming the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the U.S. election.
Minority leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to do four things in the wake of Trump’s press conference, the first being ramp up sanctions against Russia. A few Republicans have raised that prospect.
McConnell said Tuesday that “there is a possibility” the Senate will take up legislation to push back on Russia. He specifically named a bill by Florida senator Marco Rubio and Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen that aims to deter interference, especially by Russia, in future elections.
“In the meantime, I think the Russians need to know that there are a lot of us who fully understand what happened in 2016,” he said. “And it really better not happen again in 2018.”
