Trump meets with Slovakian prime minister
President Trump is meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini Friday afternoon, capping a busy week for the administration.
Mr. Trump gave more details to reporters about his hour-long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he said was primarily focused on the situation in Venezuela. The president said Putin "is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela," even though Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week that the Russian government had encouraged the authoritarian leader of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, to stay in the country.
"The Russians have people working over there in the hundreds, if not more. These are the folks who are actually controlling the direction of travel for Venezuela," Pompeo said on Thursday.
In a readout of the call, the Kremlin said that Putin "underscored that only the Venezuelans themselves have the right to determine the future of their country, whereas outside interference in the country's internal affairs and attempts to change the government in Caracas by force undermine prospects for a political settlement of the crisis."
Mr. Trump also said Friday that he spoke briefly with Putin about the report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He said that Putin told him something to the effect of: "it started off as a mountain, it ended up being a mouse" about the report.
"You are very rude," Mr. Trump told a reporter who shouted a question about whether the president spoke with Putin about election meddling. He later responded that he and Putin had not discussed election interference.
He also praised The New York Times for reporting on surveillance on his 2016 campaign, saying that this was "bigger than Watergate." He said that "dishonest" reporting was "the opposite of free press."
Mr. Trump also briefly addressed the upcoming election, saying that he would run on the strength of the economy.
Mr. Trump began Friday with good economic news -- 263,000 jobs were created in April, substantially more than the 190,000 economists had predicted.
However, on Thursday, another Federal Reserve pick, Stephen Moore, withdrew from consideration after some Republican senators expressed reservations about his ability to be confirmed, in particular because of some of his past remarks about women.
Mr. Trump is meeting with Pellegrini to discuss bilateral security cooperation, as well as mark the 75th anniversary of the Slovak uprising against Nazi occupation and the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Earlier this week, the president saw Attorney General William Barr testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the release of the special counsel's report on the Russia investigation and obstruction. Barr's testimony Wednesday followed the revelation Tuesday that Mueller had confronted Barr about his public characterization of the report. Mr. Trump was reportedly pleased by Barr's performance and his full-throated defense of the White House.
Barr refused to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by Democrats, on Thursday.
Mr. Trump also met Tuesday with Democrats and agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure over 25 years, according to Schumer.
