John McCain SLAMS Trump for ignoring ‘America First’ and supporting ‘KGB agent Putin’

The former Republican presidential nominee’s intervention has come after Donald Trump suggested he believes Vladimir Putin’s denials after the pair met in Vietnam during the US President’s Asia tour.

In a statement, Senator McCain said: “President Trump today stated that he believed Vladimir Putin is being sincere when he denies Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and reiterated that he hopes to cooperate with Russia in Syria.

“There’s nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American Intelligence community.

“There’s no ‘principled realism’ in cooperating with Russia to prop up the murderous Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to a political solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria.

“Vladimir Putin does not have America’s interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.”

Following his meeting with Vladimir Putin yesterday, the US President made clear he believes a personal assurance by the Russian President that Moscow did not meddle in the US election.

President Trump said: “I can’t stand there and argue with him. I would rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I would rather… get to work with him on the Ukraine.

“Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.”

“You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.”

The Republican President added that he thinks Vladimir Putin “is very insulted by” reports that the Kremlin interfered in last year’s US election, adding that it was ‘not a good thing for our country”.

Since his meeting with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump has also tweeted; “When will all the haters and fools out there realise that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing?

“There always playing politics – bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!”