--- description: Sen. John McCain condemned President Trump's remarks following a meeting with Vladimir Putin, calling it a "disgraceful performance." title: John McCain Slams Trump for 'Disgraceful Performance' at Putin Meeting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4de5d217fcb7f295/69893579e76ad271b963281f/john-mccain-response-trump-putin-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # John McCain Calls Trump's Press Conference With Putin 'One of the Most Disgraceful Performances by an American President'  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2018 7:03 PM CUT  Arizona Sen. John McCain listens during a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Arizona Sen. John McCain listens during a hearing before Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.Alex Wong/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2018 7:03 PM CUT Arizona Sen. John McCain condemned President Donald Trump’s remarks at a [joint press conference](http://time.com/5339830/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-summit-helsinki-meddling/ "undefined") with [Russian President Vladimir Putin](http://time.com/5333104/putin-trump-summit-helsinki-winner/ "undefined") in Helsinki on Monday, calling it “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” “The damage inflicted by President Trump’s naiveté, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake,” McCain said in a statement. “President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from the same script as the president made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world.” On Friday, McCain [called for Trump to cancel the summit](http://time.com/5338688/john-mccain-trump-putin-meeting/ "undefined") if he was “not prepared to hold Putin accountable” after the Justice Department charged 12 Russian intelligence officials with hacking the Democratic National Committee’s emails, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and state election systems. On Monday, Trump met with Putin for two hours and then, during a 46-minute joint press conference, slammed Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and [declined to criticize Putin for election interference](http://time.com/5339830/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-summit-helsinki-meddling/ "undefined"). “I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said during Monday’s press conference, when asked whether he believed U.S. intelligence officials over Putin, who denied any election meddling. > [](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/1018919182904299520) McCain joined [other congressional Republicans](http://time.com/5339995/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-summit-congress-reaction/ "undefined") on Monday in contradicting Trump and acknowledging Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. “No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,” McCain said in his statement. “Not only did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who we are—a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad.” Read McCain’s full statement here: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5339932/john-mccain-statement-trump-putin-meeting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5339932/john-mccain-statement-trump-putin-meeting/"},"headline":"John McCain Calls Trump's Press Conference With Putin 'One of the Most Disgraceful Performances by an American President'","datePublished":"2018-07-16T19:03:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:51:49.612Z","description":"\"No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant\"","url":"https://time.com/5339932/john-mccain-statement-trump-putin-meeting/","keywords":["Donald Trump","russia","White House","John McCain","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4de5d217fcb7f295/69893579e76ad271b963281f/john-mccain-response-trump-putin-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4de5d217fcb7f295/69893579e76ad271b963281f/john-mccain-response-trump-putin-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","caption":"Senate Armed Services Committee Holds Hearing On Situation In Afghanistan","creditText":"Alex Wong/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5339932/john-mccain-statement-trump-putin-meeting/","name":"John McCain Calls Trump's Press Conference With Putin 'One of the Most Disgraceful Performances by an American President'"}}]}] ```