Trump again shows 'reluctance' to criticize Russia after suggesting China may have been behind cyberattack
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday said the "wiser" course for President Trump would be to refrain from commenting on the alleged Russian cyberattack which targeted several U.S. federal agencies and companies. But the president didn't completely follow that advice Saturday, when he expressed his views on the matter over Twitter.
Trump broke with the consensus by suggesting that China, not Russia, may have been the perpetrator, and that the urge to blame Russia stems from the media's fixation on Moscow as an antagonist. He didn't outright accuse Beijing or dismiss the possibility of the Kremlin's involvement, but the ambiguity of his comments is a departure from U.S. intelligence agencies and Pompeo himself, who said Russia was "pretty clearly" behind the incident.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The comments were viewed by some as one more example of Trump's reluctance to potentially anger Russian President Vladimir Putin, a frequent criticism hurled at him throughout his time in the White House. Tim O'Donnell
-
Political cartoons for January 19Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Greenland tariffs, fighting the Fed, and more
-
Spain’s deadly high-speed train crashThe Explainer The country experienced its worst rail accident since 2013, with the death toll of 39 ‘not yet final’
-
Can Starmer continue to walk the Trump tightrope?Today's Big Question PM condemns US tariff threat but is less confrontational than some European allies
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
