For Trump, the summit in Helsinki with Putin was "even better" than the meeting with NATO.
US President Donald Trump described his Monday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as positive and attempted to discredit the widely held view that his day with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, was detrimental to the United States.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) US President Donald Trump described his Monday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as positive and attempted to discredit the widely held view that the day he spent with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, was detrimental to the United States.
"Although I had a great meeting with NATO, raising vast amounts of money, I had an even better meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia," Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, it's not being reported this way - fake news is rampant!"
Trump's press conference alongside Putin, in which he refuted US intelligence assessments that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, drew criticism from members of both US political parties, who said he put Russian interests above those of his own country.
Last week Trump met with NATO allies, pressing them to increase their defense spending. In another tweet posted on Tuesday, he took credit for the organization's strength, saying it is better funded "just because of me."
“I had a great meeting with NATO,” he said in the same tweet. “NATO was weak, but now it’s strong again (bad for Russia). The media only says I was rude to the leaders, never mentions the money!”