Trump defends approach to Putin, says Pence will investigate alleged fraud
WASHINGTON — While defending his diplomatic approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin — and suggesting that Putin's regime is equivalent to past U.S. governments — President Trump said in a pre-Super Bowl interview broadcast Sunday that Vice President Pence will head a special commission to investigate unproven claims of voter fraud in last year's election.
"We're going to look at it very, very carefully," Trump told Fox News of his claim that 3 to 5 million voted illegally last year as he lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Election officials in both parties said there is no evidence of such an unprecedented fraud.
Also during the interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, Trump:
• Declined to say whether he would void the nuclear agreement with Iran in light of new sanctions placed on the Tehran government late last week; "we'll see what happens," Trump said.
• Suggested he is willing to use U.S. force to battle Mexican drug cartels that have operations in the United States. Trump said he likes the people of Mexico and President Enrique Peña Nieto, but "they have problems controlling aspects of their country, there’s no question about it."
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• Claimed his tax cut and regulatory policies will lead to "tremendous job growth in this country."
• Said he might seek to cut off federal funds for California if it declares itself a "sanctuary state" for migrants who are in the country illegally; "if we have to, we'll defund," he said.
• Predicted that the the New England Patriots, some of whom are friends of his, would defeat the Atlanta Falcons by eight points in the Super Bowl.
Fox broadcast the taped interview amid bipartisan criticism of his comments about Russia that were released Saturday,
Trump says he doesn't know if he will get along with Putin or not, but "it’s better to get along with Russia than not" when it comes to issues like fighting the Islamic State.
When Fox interviewer O'Reilly called Putin a "killer," Trump responded: "There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think — our country’s so innocent?”
Pressed about allegations that Putin has had political opponents murdered, Trump said: "A lot of killers around, believe me."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on CNN's State of the Union that "I'm not going to critique every utterance of the president," but "I obviously don't see this issue the same way he does.”
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., tweeted that Trump's "statement suggesting moral equivalence between Putin's Russia and the United States of America is deeply troubling and wrong."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called for an FBI investigation into Trump's connections to Russia, telling NBC's Meet The Press that "I want to know what the Russians have on Donald Trump."
Pence, during a tour of Sunday interview shows, said Trump was not engaging in equivalence, telling NBC that he "has been willing to be critical of our country's actions in the past," and won't "let semantics or the arguments of the past get in the way of exploring the ability to work together with Russia."
In the interview with O'Reilly, Trump said being president these past two weeks has been a bit of a surreal experience.
"The other day I walked into the main entrance of the White House and I said to myself, 'this is sort of amazing.'" Trump said. "Or you walk into Air Force One ... it’s like a surreal experience in a certain way, but you have to get over it, because there’s so much work to be done."
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Trump delays signing order to investigate unfounded voter fraud claims