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.
Mr Putin described the allegations of Russian meddling in the US election as "complete nonsense".
He said he knew nothing about the 12 Russian security officials recently indicted in the US.
This pretty much sums up the both Mr Putin's and Mr Trump's attitudes to the idea of collusion.
“I wanted Trump to win because he spoke about normalising Russian relations,” Mr Putin said.
US media making a big deal out of this exchange:
President Donald Trump was asked outright if he believed his own intelligence agencies or the Russian president when it came to the allegations of meddling in the elections - and if he would denounce Russia with "the world watching".
Mr Trump dodged the question.
“People came to me, [national intelligence director] Dan Coates came to me and some others, they said they think it’s Russia," Mr Trump said.
"President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it should be.” he called Mr Putin's answer a "powerful denial".
Not answering that question has caused outrage among Trump critics in the US.
Former CIA Director John Brennan called the president "treasonous" for his remarks, while Ari Fleischer, a White House press secretary under George W Bush called the president "naive".
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected allegations that Moscow has collected compromising materials on U.S. President Donald Trump or his family.
Asked during a joint news conference following their summit in Helsinki, the Russian leader dismissed the claims as "sheer nonsense."
Mr Putin said that he hadn't been aware of Trump's visit to Moscow a few years before his 2016 election, which has been stained by accusations that Russians hacked and interfered in the campaign to support Trump.
Mr Putin, a former KGB agent, scoffed at the notion that the Russian security services try to gather incriminating materials on businessmen, saying: "Do you really believe that we try to shadow every businessman?"
Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele said President Trump sounded like an “asset” standing next to his “handler” during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
GOP Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona also blasted Mr Trump, calling his rhetoric "shameful."
So it is not just the Democrats and former intelligence officers that are angry - although Mr Flake is a known Trump critic.
Mr Trump is on his way to the airport for a flight to Washington, but has stopped to give two interviews to Fox News that will air 9pm ET tonight - with Sean Hannity - and another at 8pm tomorrow.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has blasted President Donald Trump's comments at a news conference alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying his actions have "strengthened our adversaries while weakening our defenses and those of our allies."
"For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The president is putting himself over our country," Mr Schumer wrote in a series of Twitter posts following the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki.
Political strategist David Axelrod has compared Mr Trump's demeanour with Mr Putin to that of the US president's harsh interactions with allies from the EU and Nato last week. he calls it "horrifying".
A US official says the translator in President Trump's one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely be debriefed, at least informally, by other US officials about some of what took place in the meeting.
Translator Marina Gross has previously worked for the State Department and other government entities. She accompanied First Lady Laura Bush to Sochi, Russia, in 2008.
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