Donald finds Putin ‘very smart’, irks Dems, own party

Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for not quickly hitting back at Washington for the punitive measures imposed over alleged interference in the November election.

“Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!” Trump tweeted. Russia’s embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the comment, which Mr Trump pinned so it would appear at the top of his feed for several hours. Mr Trump’s tweet enraged his Democratic foes as well as some members of his own Republican Party.

“@realDonaldTrump alternates between embracing Russian subversion & downplaying it, but his support for Putin is constant. We must know why,” wrote Evan McMullin, who ran as an independent presidential candidate after serving as policy director for the House Republican Conference.

Claire McCaskill, a Democrat who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote: “Our ENTIRE cyber intel community,best in world btw, agrees that this guy tried to mess in our election & the Russians are RT TrumpPutin love.” The Russian leader ruled out any immediate tit-for-tat expulsions.