TRUMP REVISES ON RUSSIA – AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  The damage control is well underway, and I don't underestimate Trump's ability to get himself out of trouble.  He's had to do it many times.  But he'll have to make a major effort, and avoid unforced errors, which are his curse.  From CNBC: 

President Donald Trump vowed Thursday that if his dealings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin don't "work out, I'll be the worst enemy he's ever had."

Trump made the statement during an interview at the White House with CNBC's Joe Kernen that will air in full Friday at 6 a.m. ET on "Squawk Box."

In the same interview, Trump blasted his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for having been a "total patsy" for Russia — while claiming he has been "far tougher on Russia than any president in many, many years."

"Maybe ever," Trump added.

But Trump also said he valued the opportunity to improve the United States' relationship to Russia, even after American intelligence agencies have said that Russia repeatedly tried to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

""Getting along with President Putin, getting along with Russia, is positive, not a negative," Trump said.

COMMENT:  Perfectly reasonable, but statements earlier in the week, one of them suggesting that the president believed Putin rather than his own intelligence chiefs, were not reasonable, and got Mr. Trump into severe trouble.

His comments about Obama were dead on, and simply highlight the media's disgraceful deference to Obama, and the casualness with which Trump haters lie. 

July 20, 2018