Trump says son is ‘innocent’ over emails about Russian campaign help

WASHINGTON (Reuters): US President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his eldest son as “innocent” following emails that showed Donald Trump Jr. welcomed Russian help against his father’s rival in the 2016 presidential election, deepening the controversy over purported Russian meddling.

Trump Jr. released a series of emails on Tuesday that revealed he had eagerly agreed to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow’s official support for his father.

Trump Jr., in a Fox News television interview Tuesday, said: “In retrospect, I probably would have done things a little differently.”

The president, after initially releasing a statement calling his son “high-quality,” on Wednesday praised the TV appearance and again condemned news coverage and investigations into his campaign’s alleged links to Russia.

“He was open, transparent and innocent. This is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Christopher Wray, Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday he did not consider special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling to be a “witch hunt.”

The emails offered the most concrete evidence to date that Trump campaign officials embraced an offer of Russian help to win the election, a subject that has cast a cloud over Trump’s presidency and spurred multiple investigations.

Trump, escaping domestic troubles, visits France’s Macron

Paris (Reuters): US President Donald Trump, under fire at home over Russian connections and abroad over climate change and trade, arrived in Paris on Thursday seeking common ground with France’s new leader Emmanuel Macron.

After a bumpy start to relations, the two men both have incentives to improve ties - Macron hoping to elevate France’s role in global affairs, and Trump, seemingly isolated among world leaders, needing a friend overseas.

Trump comes to France beset by allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election. Emails released on Tuesday suggest his eldest son welcomed Russian help against his father’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Talks will focus on shared diplomatic and military endeavours, but an Elysee official said Macron would not shy away from trickier issues. Trump has made few friends in Europe with his rejection of the Paris accord on climate change and ‘America First’ trade stance.