Speaking to MSNBC on Saturday, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she believed the relationship between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was “dangerous”.
“I think that the president’s relationship with thugs all over the world is appalling… Vladimir Putin, really? I think it’s dangerous”.
Putin-Trump relations have been a subject of much concern in the United States, fuelled by collusion allegations between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
The Trump-Putin saga reached a new crescendo in July after the two presidents held a one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, the results of which still remain a murky secret for US politicians due to the fact that no communique followed.
While both presidents dubbed the long-awaited summit a “success” and stated that they sought to improve bilateral ties, critics and mainstream media called Trump’s decision to meet with Putin “treason”.
Some critics expressed their concerns about Trump questioning the conclusion of the US intelligence community regarding interference in the vote, which he later retracted.
READ MORE: Putin Says Ready for Possible Meeting With Trump
Despite much negativity on social media and beyond, some netizens appeared to be optimistic about the Trump-Putin relationship, saying that having better relations with Russia was in the best interest of the United States: