AP sources: Pence, Bolton, Kelly confronted Trump in Oval Office about Russia comments

[applegrove]

By Zeke Miller and Jonathan LeMire, Associated Press


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-putin-comments-20180721-story.html

"SNIP.......


Facing condemnation from allies and foes alike on Capitol Hill, President Donald Trump was outnumbered even in the Oval Office. Top aides gathered to convince the president to issue a rare walk-back of the comments he'd made raising doubts about U.S. intelligence conclusions of Russian election interference as he stood alongside Vladimir Putin.

Vice President Mike Pence, national security adviser John Bolton and chief of staff John Kelly stood united in the West Wing on Tuesday in their contention that the commander in chief had some cleanup to do. They brought with them words of alarm from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well as from a host of congressional leaders and supporters of the president for whom Trump's public praise of Putin proved to be a bridge too far.

Even for Trump, a leader who has increasingly come to cast off the constraints and guidance of aides, the him-against-the-world position proved untenable. Trump may like doing things his way, eschewing advice and precedent like no president before, but he never likes being alone.

Walking off stage with Putin following their joint press conference in Helsinki, Trump was riding high after his second summit with an adversarial leader in as many months. The highly choreographed affairs had been sought out by the U.S. leader as a way to boost his credibility abroad and his favorability at home, and he believed the latest one had accomplished the task.


........SNIP"

[monmouth4]

1. A stupid, shallow man is he..n/t

[Iliyah]

2. I could care less about them. All of them are sickcos to the 10th power.

The not my president, his fucked up administration and the gawd awful Republican party can suck it. They all need to leave.

[RockRaven]

3. Ask yourself "a) who is the source for this story and b) what's their agenda?"

The answer: a) the people named as having pushed back against Trump, and b) to dupe the public into believing there is daylight between themselves and Trump's treasonous actions.

[fountainofyouth]

12. I'd guess Kelly

Who's trying to justify sticking around to himself and to us.

[srobertss]

17. And maybe spin a positive motive..

...for meeting with Putin? Why would anyone be impressed with a summit with no account of the substance of it, except for his crazy base? At least with North Korea they had a little document to display. He might have hoped for accolades as a side benefit, but I don’t think that was his primary motivation.

[Hortensis]

4. Yes, well, let's see what he does next.

We know he caves under pressure from others while they're there and then acts out big time.

[GoCubsGo]

5. They need to confront McConnell and Ryan, as well.

And, the rest of the republican House and Senate who not only refuse to institute election safeguards, they yanked the funding for current safeguards. It would probably fall on deaf ears, though. Just like it did with Spanky, who then turned around and gave his boss an invite to the White House just before election time. Without that, the whole "confrontation" thing is a crock of shit, and only about optics.

[malaise]

6. They gave him the n't?

OK then

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. ...and then they all gave him a BJ.

They confronted him, my ass.

[TeamPooka]

8. Then it was milk & cookies time and they all left him to be President some more.

[ThoughtCriminal]

9. If the Cabinet had any decency, they would have "25th" Trump last week

But most, if not all of them are also up their eyeballs in treason too. They confronted him because he is making WAY to obvious.

[BigmanPigman]

11. They are mostly getting rich(er) off of their position.

This is the most corrupt admin in the history of the US. The GOP Congress comes in second place! They are all com0licit and most likely colluding. ALL OF THEM ARE TRAITORS! Hang 'en high for their crimes once convicted!!!!!

[dalton99a]

10. Bullshit - never happened

Somebody is trying to salvage their reputation

[Snake Plissken]

13. Yep, Pence was praising Trump until the next day, when Fox News told him what to think

I doubt Bolton had anything negative to say about it either, Kelly is the only one I believe knew it was a complete disaster as he watched it unfold in real-time.

[czarjak]

14. I'm certain it was a strong and powerful rebuke, huh?

[Marthe48]

15. Trying to make traitor pence easier to swallow

Or whatever.

Remove trump from office, the rest of the traitors too. The Domino Theory is alive and well. Not only countries, but repuke traitor politicians.

[bitterross]

16. So what? Who Cares? It doesn't change him.

He remains committed to doing what he wants and since he read the statement he's already contradicted his intelligence agencies again.

This story means nothing. Everyone assumed his top aides confronted him and made him read another hostage speech.

[nini]

18. I doubt this .. they're probably trying to make Pence look like he's on the right side of this

So he can step in like a hero..then continue to destroy the country with his own agenda.