Trump dismisses concerns over possible Russian attack on NATO country
US President Donald Trump said he is not worried about a potential Russian attack on a NATO member state and denied that his CIA director delivered any warning to Putin during a recent Moscow trip. When pressed again later, Trump declined to elaborate but said Russia would not attack NATO territory.
US President Donald Trump said in a phone interview with Axios that he is not concerned at all about the possibility of Russia attacking a NATO member country, calling it a non-issue.
During the interview, Trump was asked about a covert trip to Moscow made by CIA Director John Ratcliffe on August 25. Several outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, had suggested Ratcliffe may have delivered a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding a possible attack or provocation against a NATO country.
Trump rejected that characterization. He said Ratcliffe meets with his Russian counterpart roughly once every six months to a year, describing their relationship as good, and said no message was delivered and nothing unusual took place during the visit.
Reporters press the question again
About two hours later, reporters asked Trump once more whether a warning had been issued to Putin. This time he declined to comment directly, but stated that Russia would not attack NATO territory.
The exchange follows an early-August Wall Street Journal report, citing new US intelligence assessments, that Putin could seek to "test NATO's resolve" with a limited assault on an allied country within the next few years.
