Trump jokes to Putin: Don’t interfere in elections

With a smirk and a finger point, President Donald Trump dryly told Russia’s Vladimir Putin “Don’t meddle with the election” in their first meeting since the special counsel concluded that Russia extensively interfered with the 2016 campaign.

The tone of the president’s comment, which came after a reporter asked if he would warn Mr. Putin, was immediately open to interpretation. But it would seem to do little to silence questions about Mr. Trump’s relationship with Russia in the aftermath of special counsel Robert Mueller’s conclusion that he could not establish a criminal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia.

It was the latest remarkable moment for Mr. Trump at Mr. Putin’s side after meeting nearly a year ago in Helsinki, considered one of the defining days of Mr. Trump’s presidency, when he pointedly did not admonish Mr. Putin over election interference and did not side with U.S. intelligence agencies over his Russian counterpart.