President Trump is celebrating throwback Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he spoke on the phone with Putin and the two discussed the investigation into Russian election interference. That investigation determined that Russia had meddled to aid Trump in 2016, did not find prosecutable proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and did not determine whether administration officials sought to obstruct the probe.
Reiterating his displeasure with the investigation, Trump said the "Russia hoax" was "very hard" on the U.S. and Russia's foreign relations. "And we discussed that," said Trump of his call with Putin, also noting he offered to send Russia ventilators to aid COVID-19 patients.
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"Things are falling out now and coming in line, showing what a hoax this whole investigation was," claimed Trump, likely referencing the dropped investigation against his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. "I wouldn't be surprised if you see a lot of things happen over the next number of weeks," he added ominously. "This is just one piece of a very dishonest puzzle."
CBS News' Margaret Brennan noted that talk of the Russia "hoax" wasn't included in the White House summary of the call. As Bloomberg writes, the statement merely said "the two leaders also covered other bilateral and global issues." Trump did not elaborate on what "things" may "happen" regarding Russia in the upcoming weeks.
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