Trump-Putin meeting: John McCain among many to launch blistering attacks on US president's performance at Helsinki summit press conference
Both Democrats and Republicans lambast Mr Trump as 'weak' as he declines to defend US intelligence reports that Moscow sought to interfere in 2016 vote
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has caused outrage in Washington after backing Russian President Vladimir Putin's denial that Moscow was involved in meddling in the 2016 US presidential election - over his own nation's intelligence reports
Mr Trump, who was seeking to change the relationship between the White House and the Kremlin, said he could think of "no reason" why Russia would be involved. There is consensus among US intelligence agencies that Russia did seek to alter the election, although Mr Putin has repeatedly denied it.
In Washington, the condemnation came thick and fast. Former CIA director John Brennan called Mr Trump's actions "treasonous", while Republican Senator John McCain called it “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.”
The Arizona Republican said the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki was “a tragic mistake.”
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Outside the Helsinki palace where the meeting took place hundreds of protesters gathered in the streets in support of a variety of causes including abortion rights, gay rights and anti-facism. One sign read: "Lets make human rights great again".
The US president's summit with Mr Putin follows contentious visits to Nato in Brussels and to the UK, where he was greeted with widespread demonstrations against his administration.
Mr Putin meanwhile is on a high after Russia's triumphant hosting of the World Cup, although questions linger over the novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal on British soil.
In an interview on Good Morning Britain before heading off to Helsinki, Mr Trump described his Russian counterpart as a "competitor" and said it was too early to say whether they were friends or enemies.
He also claimed that the EU was one of America's biggest enemies because of "what they do to us in trade" and repeated his description of the media as the "enemy of the people".
Mr Trump went on to issue a tweet blaming "US foolishness and stupidity" and what he called the "rigged witch hunt" for bad relations with Russia, to which the Russian Foreign Ministry replied "We agree".
He had been due to meet alone with the Russian president for one-and-a-half hours from around 11am UK time, but Mr Putin arrived at Helsinki airport half an hour later than expected. The joint press conference was due to start at 2.50pm.
The US president has said he was going into the meeting with "low expectations". There is no official agenda for the talks and Democrats have raised fears that Mr Putin will "try to take advantage", such as by reaching an agreement on the annexation of Crimea.
A journalist who identified as “Sam Hussein” of the nation has been bundled out of room by security officers before the press conference began.
He unfurled an anti-Nuclear sign and had previously heckled colleagues
Vladimir Putin says the Cold War is "a thing of the past" and claims there is no reason for the tense atmosphere between the US and Russia.
Mr Putin said the Russian state "has never interfered and will never interfere" in the internal affairs of the US.
Donald Trump says the talks went "very well" and defended the decision to hold the meeting: "I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of peace than risk peace in pursuit of politics."
Donald Trump repeats his description of Vladimir Putin as a "competitor".
"A good competitor he is - the word competitor is a compliment."
Mr Trump is asked whether he holds Russia accountable for anything, following his tweet blaming US "foolishness and stupidity" for bad relations with Russia.
"I hold both countries responsible, I think we have all been foolish, we should have had this dialogue a long time to go, we are all to blame. We have a chance to do some great things, whether it is nuclear proliferation... I do feel we have both made mistakes."
The US president again blames the investigation into Russian interference in the US election.
"I think the probe is a disaster for our country," he says. "There was no collusion at all. Everybody knows it.
"There was no collusion, I didn't know the president, there was nobody to collude with."
Asked if he believed Mr Putin's denials, Mr Trump said he won the presidential election because he ran a "brilliant campaign."
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