Trump defends son in Paris: 'Most people would have taken that meeting'
Trump defends son in Paris: 'Most people would have taken that meeting'
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Trump: 'Most people would have taken that meeting'
Paris (CNN)President Donald Trump offered a staunch defense of his eldest son Thursday, saying Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer was a standard session that any political operative would have taken.
"My son is a wonderful young man. He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer, not a government lawyer, but a Russian lawyer," he said alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. "It was a short meeting. It was a meeting that went very, very quickly, very fast."
According to the emails released by Trump Jr., the lawyer -- Natalia Veselnitskaya -- was described to Trump's son in an email as a "Russian government lawyer" with information that was part of the country's effort to help elect his father.
"I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting," Trump added. "Politics isn't the nicest business in the world, but it's very standard."
Trump said "nothing happened from the meeting," and insisted that Trump Jr. had committed no wrongdoing.
"Nothing happened from the meeting. Zero happened from the meeting. And honestly I think the press made a very big deal out of something really a lot of people would do," Trump said.
Trump also praised the "tremendous progress" in Iraq as represented by the retaking of Mosul, but warned that gains must not be lost.
"We must work with the government of Iraq to consolidate the gains and ensure the victory stays a victory, unlike last time," he said during the joint news conference.
Trump said the US and France face "grave threats from terrorist organizations that wage war on innocent lives," but said the countries "stand united against these enemies of humanity."
He made note of the one-year anniversary of the Nice terror attack, saying the US stands with France in its battle against extremism.
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