WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was warned in briefing materials to refrain from congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election, but he did so anyway, a senior administration official said Wednesday. McMaster briefed the president in person before the call in the White House residence. Trump also said he and Putin might meet “in the not too distant future” to discuss the arms race and other matters. The action and reaction fit a Trump White House pattern of declining to chide authoritarian regimes for undemocratic practices. White House staffers are frustrated by the damaging leak from a sensitive document accessible only to a select group of aides, the senior administration official told the AP.

Source: National Post March 21, 2018 04:21 UTC