

You could say that this is unimaginable, but it’s actually just another normal day in the Trump administration at this point. President Donald Trump, 70, told Russian officials in a meeting earlier in May that firing FBI Director James Comey relieved “pressure” off the Russian collusion investigation, according to a document summarizing the meeting. All American press and cameras were barred from the meeting, but Russian media was present.
“I just fired the head of the FBI He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said, according to the document, provided by a White House official to The New York Times. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.” It seems like Trump didn’t know that there would be a record of his meeting. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t invite press. The meeting occurred on May 10, just one day after he fired Comey. Needless to say, people on Twitter are outraged by this new information, that seems to imply he was intentionally obstructing justice.
The document given to NYT is based off of notes taken during the meeting, in which Trump spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Russian Ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Trump’s snide comments reinforce the belief that Trump fired Comey to end the FBI investigation into possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia. After all, he implied that in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt!
The White House doesn’t dispute that Trump said this during the meeting, but are spinning the comments to place the blame back on Comey: “By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement. “The investigation would have always continued, and obviously, the termination of Comey would not have ended it. Once again, the real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations.”
Meanwhile, Trump maintains that this investigation is “the greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history.” It will take some time for him to get riled up about this latest story, as he’s currently on an international flight to Saudi Arabia. Right now, people on Twitter are doing the freaking out:
I eagerly await the flood of experts explaining why Donald Trump firing Comey to obstruct justice is not obstruction of justice. 😐
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) May 19, 2017
Trump says Comey is a "nut job" which is ridiculous because we all know this was the Nut Job: pic.twitter.com/J9KHV5JgQE
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) May 19, 2017
Is he trying to get out?! https://t.co/usvLPAz0oa
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 19, 2017
I have a VERY hard time believing Trump said that in the meeting. Luckily we can just check the feeds from the US reporters in the roo —
— John Rogers (@jonrog1) May 19, 2017
I bet Comey's ready to give Trump a nut job right now. pic.twitter.com/WRpiv63234
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) May 19, 2017
Did someone say “nut job”? pic.twitter.com/t5rwWj3Ne9
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) May 19, 2017
Trumps thoughts on–
James Comey: "Nutjob"
Kim Jong Un: "Smart cookie"
African American Museum: "beautiful"
chocolate cake: "most beautiful"— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) May 19, 2017
Cue Russian translators furiously looking up "nut job" to see if it has anything to do with those kompromat tapes.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 19, 2017
HollywoodLifers, are you shocked that Trump called Comey a “nut job” to the Russians? Let us know!