Trump's meeting with Putin was so bad that people are calling it the #TreasonSummit

Hard yikes.
Trump's meeting with Putin was so bad that people are calling it the #TreasonSummit
Trump seemed to side with Russia over American intelligence. Yikes. Credit: chris jackson/Getty Images

Trump's presidency, as usual, is a roller coaster.

Trump led a stunning press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit in Helsinki on Monday, criticizing Mueller's investigation as a "a disaster for our country." He also said he "doesn't see any reason why" Russia would be responsible for hacking the DNC and interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

The summit's timing is awkward -- it's taking place just three days after the Department of Justice, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, indicted 12 Russian intelligence operatives for meddling with DNC servers and confirming foreign involvement in the 2016 email leak.

When a reporter asked if Trump would denounce Putin's interference on the 2016 election, Trump decided to bash the FBI instead. Trump sided with Russia over American intelligence operations in front of the entire world.

Twitter users pointed out that Trump's rant is a betrayal of the United States, and coined the meeting #TreasonSummit.

U.S Code, the official compilation of federal laws, defines treason in Title 18, § 2381:

Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

After the initial shock at the president's betrayal of the his country wore off, Twitter did what Twitter does best: joke about it.

Some reimagined what the Cold War would look like if Trump was a leader then.

Others called for Trump's impeachment.

After all, Trump's willingness to cozy up to Putin is pretty alarming.

Some Republicans condemned Trump's behavior at the press conference, but it didn't stop celebrities from criticizing their previous complicity.

Even the dictionary, always subtweeting the president, passive aggressively tweeted the meaning of patriot.

In a later tweet on Monday, Trump appeared to backpedal. Sort of. He said, "I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people," and then said, "As the world's two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!"

He added, "A productive dialogue is not only good for the United States and good for Russia, but it is good for the world."

Based on his history of tweeting, calling for a productive dialogue is kind of ironic.

Topics Donald Trump

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