Trump Discussed Nuclear and Other Matters with Putin, Not Fake News

In an interview with Axios taped on July 28 but to be aired on Aug. 3 on HBO, President Donald Trump reported that he discussed nuclear proliferation with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they spoke by phone on July 23. Trump made clear that he did not confront Putin on the allegation that Russian military intelligence paid bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. “I have never discussed it with him,” he said. “That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news.”