Hillary Clinton took a swing at President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the conference, calling into questioning the president’s loyalties to the United States over Russia. The tweet was posted just hours after Trump tweeted his congratulations on France winning the World Cup.
“Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?” Clinton tweeted Sunday night, ahead of the President’s first official summit with Putin, taking place in Helsinki, Finland.
Great World Cup. Question for President Trump as he meets Putin: Do you know which team you play for?
Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted out congratulations to the tournament’s victors, France, as well as Putin and his countrymen for “putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament — one of the best ever!”
Congratulations to France, who played extraordinary soccer, on winning the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, congratulations to President Putin and Russia for putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament — one of the best ever!
Clinton has never shied away from questioning Trump’s loyalties to Putin, a common theme during the 2016 presidential election. During a debate, Trump stated that Putin had “no respect” for Clinton, or former President Obama, and Clinton replied: “Well that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States.” Trump replied by calling her the puppet.
“You encouraged espionage against our people. You are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list: break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do,” Clinton said later in the debate. “You continue to get help from him because he has a very clear favorite in this race.”
The historic Helsinki meeting comes less than a week after the Justice Department announced the indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officials for having an alleged hand in hacking Democrats’ emails and computer networks during the 2016 election campaign.
Trump has being criticized by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle for his reluctance to condemn Putin and Russia for the meddling. The president reacted to Friday’s indictment by blaming former President Obama and the “deep state” for the rift between Russia and the United States.