Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin defended reports Sunday that President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of a cybersecurity partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The president is focused on strategically negotiating with Putin,” Mnuchin told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week. “We have some very serious issues to deal with.”
Trump revealed that he spoke with Putin about an “impenetrable Cyber Security” unit.
Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
Mnuchin vigorously defended the president when Stephanopoulos asked about the potential joint-effort with Russia.
“I think that this is a very important step forward,” Mnuchin said. “What we want to make sure is that we coordinate with Russia, that we’re focused on cybersecurity together, that we make sure that they never interfere in any democratic elections.”
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio blasted the potential plan, saying that Putin will never be a trusted ally or “reliable constructive partner.”
While reality & pragmatism requires that we engage Vladimir Putin, he will never be a trusted ally or a reliable constructive partner. 1/3
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017
Partnering with Putin on a “Cyber Security Unit” is akin to partnering with Assad on a “Chemical Weapons Unit”. 2/3
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017
We have no quarrel with Russia or the Russian people. Problem is with Putin & his oppression, war crimes & interference in our elections 1/3
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017
“This is like any other strategic alliance, whether we’re doing military exercises with our allies or anything else. This is about having capabilities to make sure we both fight cyber together, which I think is a very significant accomplishment for President Trump,” Mnuchin added.
He said that Trump discussed Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, but also listed a Syrian ceasefire and no fly zone, Ukraine, and North Korea as top priorities for the president’s meeting with Putin.
“That’s what the president is focused on,” he said.
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