Trump Reiterates 'No Collusion' Between Russians and His Campaign

President Donald Trump says he was honored by a report concluding that there was no evidence that Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign. He speaks with reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. (Source: Bloomberg)</s>WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Donald Trump welcomed the US Winter Olympics team to the White House on Friday (April 27) but several prominent members skipped the traditional event.

"You performed and you made us very proud," Trump told members of the Olympic and Paralympic teams on the White House steps.

"And many of you came home as champions wearing a bronze, silver, or a gold medal," he said.

Trump credited the Pyeongchang Winter Games with helping bring about this week's historic meeting between South Korea's Moon Jae-in and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

"A lot of good things are happening right now over there," Trump said. "And the Olympics really helped to bring it all together."

Trump praised the Olympic athletes, who were dressed in their white USA team outfits, some wearing medals, as "very, very special people" and "winners."

"All of you, winners," he said. "You're going to be winners in life."

The members of the Olympic and Paralympic teams presented the president with flags signed by the delegations.

Several members of the US teams skipped the White House visit to express their opposition to Trump, including figure skater Adam Rippon, Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn and freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy.

"All US Olympians and Paralympians are invited to visit the White House and meet with the President after the Games," Kenworthy said in a tweet.

"Today is this year's visit and USOC spokesperson says he's never seen so many athletes turn down their invites. The resistance is real," he said, referring to the US Olympics Committee.

Rippon, who won a bronze medal in the figure skating team event in Pyeongchang, also tweeted about boycotting the White House event.

"Olympians from the 2018 Games have been invited to go to the White House today," Rippon said.

"I will not be going... I will not stand with people who discriminate against those that they perceive as different," he said.

"In lieu of going to DC, I have donated to a few of my favourite causes."</s>Former FBI director James Comey said on Wednesday that he does not have a nickname for President Donald Trump, calling him only "the President of the United States" out of respect for the office.

Comey was asked during a town hall on Wednesday hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper what his nickname for the President is given that Trump has quite a few nicknames for him.

"I don't have a nickname for him," Comey said. "Honestly, I call him the President of the United States because I respect the office."

Comey went on to say, "no matter my concerns about him, I want him to be successful. ... We should root for our President. That also doesn't mean we should fail to hold him accountable."</s>WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Trump's meeting with Germany's Angela Merkel (all times local):

President Donald Trump is saying the United States is "not going to be played" when it comes to peace talks with North Korea.

Trump sat alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Friday and said that talks on the divided Korean peninsula have "never gone this far."

Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in.

They pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year's end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons, without specifying how it would be achieved.

Trump credited his own leadership for why talks will "be different" in these negotiations.

President Donald Trump is welcoming German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House.

Merkel arrived Friday for a private meeting and a working lunch. The two are expected to discuss global trade and security issues.

Trump greeted her outside the White House with a handshake and a kiss on each cheek.

The visit comes as Trump weighs withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear accord, an agreement Germany believes should stay in pace. Another concern for the German leader is that a European Union exemption from Trump's new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum is set to soon expire.

Merkel's trip comes after French President Emmanuel Macron was treated to the first state visit of the Trump administration, complete with a glitzy state dinner.

President Donald Trump's visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House will be less than three hours.

There are likely to be fewer hugs on display than earlier in the week, when Trump played host to French President Emmanuel Macron for a lavish, three-day state visit.

But Merkel's message will likely be similar to Macron's: That America and Europe need to bury the hatchet on key issues, from global trade to international security.

In the hours before Merkel's arrival at the White House, Trump himself took note of their limited schedule. Merkel is scheduled to have a 30-minute Oval Office meeting with Trump, followed by a working lunch and joint news conference.</s>Some of the Winter Games’ biggest names are skipping Team USA’s White House visit on Friday in protest of President Donald Trump.

Although many Olympians and Paralympians are still planning to attend the event, Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn and figure skaters Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are among those sitting out the photo-op with the president for political reasons.

“All US Olympians and Paralympians are invited to visit the White House and meet the President after the Games,” Kenworthy tweeted Thursday. “Today is this year’s visit and USOC spokesperson says he’s never seen so many athletes turn down their invites. The resistance is real.”

The U.S. Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a question about the number of athletes attending this year’s White House visit.

reported that about 200 U.S. Olympians and Paralympians are expected to visit the White House this year, out of the total 242 Winter Olympians and 74 Paralympians.

Kenworthy made his decision long ago, telling in September 2017, “I have no interest in going. That’s a super small form of protest, but I didn’t vote for this administration. I am not standing by any of the policies that they’re enforcing and things that they’re doing.”

The president won’t be the only Trump honoring Olympians this week. His daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump confirmed on Instagram that she’ll attend the Team USA Awards on Thursday night in Washington, D.C., celebrating Olympic and Paralympic athletes. At the request of her father, Ivanka also led the delegation at the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in South Korea in February — a controversial appearance that prompted Kenworthy to tweet: “Honestly, tf is she doing here??”

Rippon, who is openly gay and previously feuded with Vice President Mike over LGBTQ rights, said he had other commitments this week but noted that he wouldn’t have made the trip to the White House anyway.

The figure skater was honored at the Time 100 Gala in New York City on Tuesday and on Friday night will skate in a “Stars on Ice” show in Pittsburgh.

“It’s a convenient out,” Rippon told . “I was not going or planning on going (to the White House) anyway. I have been invited to so many incredible things, to the Human Rights Campaign dinner, the GLAAD Media Awards. I was so honored and so excited to go to those, more so than I would be to go to the White House. It’s important for me to align myself with those people who have the same ideals that I have.”

Vonn told CNN in December before the PyeongChang games that she would “absolutely not” visit the White House when the time came. “No, I won’t go,” she said.

“I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” she told CNN. “I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremonies. And, you know, I want to represent our country well, and I don’t think there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.”

Opening ceremony flag bearer Erin Hamlin, Chloe Kim, Jessie Diggins and David Wise are some of the other Olympic stars skipping Friday’s meeting with Trump, though they didn’t say it was because of the president.

Hamlin said she planned to visit Johns Hopkins Children’s Center instead, according to

The whole U.S. women’s ice hockey team is expected to attend, said Brant Feldman, the agent for team captain Meghan Duggan.

“Everyone wanted to go,” he said. “It’s not about liking Trump or not liking Trump. They all wanted to be together again.”

Mike Moran, a former USOC spokesman who attended every White House visit from 1980-2002, told : “What’s remarkable is the number of athletes who have spoken out about not visiting the White House.”

“We had athletes who were angry about the 1980 boycott (of the Moscow Summer Olympics) and spoke privately to President Carter about that when they were on the platform getting their picture taken with him, but that wasn’t public. This is. I don’t remember any time when I was with the USOC that an athlete spoke out about not wanting to go to the White House.”</s>US President Donald Trump said here Friday he was considering travelling to Israel next month to attend the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, which is being moved from Tel Aviv.

"I may go. I'm very proud of it," Trump said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the White House.</s>President Donald Trump celebrated the end of the House Intelligence Committee investigation on Friday.

“I was very honored by the report. It was totally conclusive, strong, powerful,” Trump said.

The president commented on the report after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and spoke briefly to reporters in the Oval Office.

“What we really should do is get on with our lives and get on with a lot of things,” Trump said.

He added that the report showed “no collusion” between Russia and the Trump campaign and pointed reporters to a section of the report on election activity by the Hillary Clinton campaign.

“Maybe somebody ought to look at that,” he said.</s>(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). President Donald Trump claps as the car with German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives Friday April 27, 2018, at the White House in Washington.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci). President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, April 27, 2018, in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Trump's meeting with Germany's Angela Merkel (all times local):

President Donald Trump says he'll make sure Iran does not use nuclear weapons, adding, "You can bank on it."

Trump is speaking at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The president was asked if he would use military force to reign in Iran's nuclear program, if the U.S. drops out of the international nuclear deal with Iran.

Trump says he won't discuss the use of military force, but he says: "They are not going to be doing nuclear weapons. You can bank on it."

President Donald Trump is calling on NATO allies to increase their defense spending. Trump's holding a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Trump's pressing European nations to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defense - as he has urged since his campaign.

Trump also complains that the World Trade Organization has treated the U.S. poorly. He calls for "fair and reciprocal trade relationships with our friends and allies."

Merkel says Germany will continue to be a reliable partner within the NATO alliance.

Germany's latest budget will take defense spending to 1.3 percent of GDP. Merkel acknowledges that's far short of the 2 percent goal but says Germany is still aiming for that over time.

President Donald Trump says he is looking forward to a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it "should be quite something."

Trump spoke Friday at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He congratulated the leaders of North and South Korea after a historic summit and said his meeting with Kim will be in the "coming weeks."

Trump says a "maximum pressure" campaign will continue "until denuclearization occurs."

Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in. The leaders pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year's end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons.

President Donald Trump is saying the United States is "not going to be played" when it comes to peace talks with North Korea.

Trump sat alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Friday and said that talks on the divided Korean peninsula have "never gone this far."

Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in.

They pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year's end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons, without specifying how it would be achieved.

Trump credited his own leadership for why talks will "be different" in these negotiations.

President Donald Trump is welcoming German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House.

Merkel arrived Friday for a private meeting and a working lunch. The two are expected to discuss global trade and security issues.

Trump greeted her outside the White House with a handshake and a kiss on each cheek.

The visit comes as Trump weighs withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear accord, an agreement Germany believes should stay in pace. Another concern for the German leader is that a European Union exemption from Trump's new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum is set to soon expire.

Merkel's trip comes after French President Emmanuel Macron was treated to the first state visit of the Trump administration, complete with a glitzy state dinner.

President Donald Trump's visit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House will be less than three hours.

There are likely to be fewer hugs on display than earlier in the week, when Trump played host to French President Emmanuel Macron for a lavish, three-day state visit.

But Merkel's message will likely be similar to Macron's: That America and Europe need to bury the hatchet on key issues, from global trade to international security.

In the hours before Merkel's arrival at the White House, Trump himself took note of their limited schedule. Merkel is scheduled to have a 30-minute Oval Office meeting with Trump, followed by a working lunch and joint news conference.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo

President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo

President Donald Trump greets Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrives at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

President Donald Trump speaks at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo

April 27 (UPI) -- Though she's in Washington, D.C., to persuade President Donald Trump to stay in the Iran nuclear deal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she agrees the accord is not sufficient to curb Tehran's bad actions.

Merkel spoke about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during a news conference with Trump in the East Room of the White House. She is the second European leader to visit the White House this week with the expectations of pressuring Trump to keep the United States in the deal ahead of a May 12 deadline.

Trump has repeatedly called it a bad deal and said he wants out of it, while British, French and German leaders have negotiated with U.S. officials in recent months to keep the pact together.

"We are of the opinion that the JCPOA is the first step that has contributed to the slowing down of activities," Merkel said. "But we also think ... that this is not sufficient in order to see to it that Iran's ambitions are curbed and are contained.

She said the agreement "is anything but perfect" and that "it will not solve all the problems of Iran." She described the JCPOA as one piece in the plan to limit Iran's bad actions.

But Merkel said it's of "prime importance" to Germany to tackle the threat of Iran as it exerts "geopolitical influence in Syria."

Merkel said she anticipates more discussions with U.S. officials on the deal.

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French President Emmanuel Macron visited earlier in the week and after multiple days of talks, he told reporters he wasn't optimistic that the United States would stay in the deal.

"My view -- I don't know what your president will decide -- is that he will get rid of this deal on his own, for domestic reasons," he said, adding it would be a "big risk" and "very insane in the medium to long-term" to pull out of the accord.

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and reduce its number of gas centrifuges. Some of the restrictions on Iran are scheduled to be lifted after 10 and 15 years.</s>German Chancellor Angela Merkel is making a brief "working visit" at the White House with US President Donald Trump Friday.

The brief trip, which follows French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to the United States, comes amid heightened tensions between Berlin and Washington over US trade policy and Trump's opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.

Read more: US-German conflicts — what you need to know

Macron's US visit: French President Emmanuel Macron Emmanual spent three days in the US earlier in the week in a state visit to the US. The French president used his trip to lobby Trump to stay in a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and refrain from slapping tariffs on goods from allied countries.

Read more: France's Emmanuel Macron urges Donald Trump not to ditch Iran deal

Protecting free trade from Trump: The US enacted tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in late March, but temporarily exempted European imports from the measures at the last minute. Germany's exporting companies have called on Merkel to convince Washington to maintain the exemption beyond the May 1.

Protecting the Iran deal from Trump: Trump has repeatedly criticized the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and threatened to withdraw the US from it unless changes are made by May 12. The agreement suspended international sanctions in return for Iran promising to halt its nuclear program. Merkel and Macron want to save the deal.

Merkel's cheeseburger: The German chancellor ate a cheeseburger with bacon and French fries after she arrived in Washington on Thursday evening, according to a waiter from "J. Pauls" restaurant. The waiter, who told German broadcaster n-tv about the meal, said Merkel washed it all down with a Pinot Grigio.

Read more: Can Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron save the Iran nuclear deal?
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint press conference at the White House. Merkel states she believes that there can be a bilateral trade deal between the European Union and the United States.