Trump says only 'stupid people don't want to get on better with Russia'

'If we got along with Russia, that would be a good thing not a bad thing', the president says

Donald Trump has said only “stupid people” don’t want to get along better with Russia.

“If we got along with Russia, that would be a good thing not a bad thing”, he said during a working lunch with Baltic leaders. “And just about everybody agrees with that, except very stupid people.”

While Mr Trump expelled 60 Russian diplomats last week, many still do not believe he is being tough enough on Vladimir Putin.

On Tuesday, the president said that “probably nobody’s been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump.”

This week, it was confirmed that Mr Trump in a recent phone call proposed a meeting with Mr Putin at the White House. Also during their conversation, Mr Trump congratulated Mr Putin on being re-elected, even though the Russian leader’s victory was never in doubt.

“An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections,” said Republican Senator John McCain.

But preparations for any sit-down have reportedly stalled over the expulsions of diplomats, which Russia responded to with retaliation. Furious over what it says is an anti-Russia campaign by the West, the Kremlin said it would expel 60 US diplomats and close the American consulate in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.

Along with expelling dozens of Russian diplomats, Mr Trump also decided to close the Russian consulate in Seattle, Washington in his strongest action against the country since taking office. The move was part of a larger international response to Moscow’s alleged use of a nerve agent in the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter in the UK town of Salisbury.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in the attack.

Anatoly Antonov, the Russian Ambassador to the US, has called the expulsions “unfortunate” but said the two countries were “destined to become friends again”, in a video address last week.