Trump jokes with Putin at G20: 'Don't meddle in the election, please'

Donald Trump began his meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit by treating the serious nature of Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign as a joking matter.

The first encounter between Mr Trump and Mr Putin since special counsel Robert Mueller found Russia engaged a "systematic" operation to sway the election was more jovial than confrontational.

But as Mr Trump attempted to reset relations with Russia, his conduct only served to refocus pressure on his deference to the country as House Democrats prepare to question Mr Mueller next month.

The meeting between the two presidents had not yet begun when a reporter asked Mr Trump whether he would tell Mr Putin to not interfere in the forthcoming 2020 presidential election.

"Yes, of course I will," Mr Trump replied, before turning to Mr Putin with mock-seriousness and a smirk on his face to announce: "Don't meddle in the election, Mr President".

The remark brought a chuckle and a smile from Mr Putin as Mr Trump pointed to another Russian official seated at the meeting and with a playful tone repeated: “Don’t meddle in the election.”

Mr Trump's brief moment of ease on the sidelines of the international summit in Osaka, Japan, comes at a time when Russia is feeling increasingly emboldened on the global political stage.

Hours before the two leaders' meeting, Mr Putin had declared in an interview that traditional Western liberalism had become "obsolete" and praised the rise of populism in Europe.

Rather than admonish Mr Putin's worldview, Mr Trump seemed to offer an endorsement. Then he also provided a criticism of journalists that was likely to resonate deeply with an authoritarian leader.

“Get rid of them,” Mr. Trump said. “Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You don’t have this problem in Russia, but we do.” Mr Putin replied in English: “We also have, it's the same."

The exchanges drew criticism in the US, with the Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer tweeting that “President Trump is basically giving Putin a green light to interfere in 2020.”

Mr Schumer had earlier pressed the president to directly challenge the Russian leader on election interference and send a signal to other countries the US would take a tough stance on any attacks.

Mr Trump last met Mr Putin in Helsinki, Finland, in July 2018, when he sparked widespread controversy by saying he believed Mr. Putin’s denials about election meddling over his own intelligence agencies.

“He just said it is not Russia,” Mr. Trump said after what became an infamous Helsinki meeting. “I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be.” Under fire, Mr Trump later walked back his comments.

The Mueller report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump associates and the Kremlin to influence the outcome of the 2016 election, a result that lifted a cloud over the White House.

Still, Mr Mueller did not clear Mr Trump over the crime of obstruction of justice. "If we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime we would have said so," said Mr Mueller.

But whatever happened during the 2016 election campaign, Mr Trump has long maintained that it remains in the interests of the US to establish a more harmonious relationship with Russia than years past.

Mr Trump also said he enjoyed a "very, very good relationship" with Mr Putin and that he expected many positive developments to come from their relationship, particularly surrounding trade and disarmament.

The US president, who pulled the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, has lately been interested in negotiating a three-way arms deal with Russia and China.

Mr Putin has not ruled out such a pact, but has noted that that Russia has a far greater number of nuclear weapons than the US or China. Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister, has still welcomed the outreach.

The White House summary of the meeting indicated they talked about such an accord, as well as the issues of Iran, Syria, Venezuela and the Ukraine. There was no mention of election interference.