THE Trump administration was reportedly adopting steps to clean up the “mess” of the Helsinki meeting Tuesday, one day after the first one-on-one gathering between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Senior administration officials told CBS News that a “damage control” effort is under way to clean up the mess created by Trump’s comments in Helsinki. Officials reportedly wanted Trump to say clearly that he believes U.S. intelligence over Putin and that there will not be any effort by the U.S. to cooperate with Russia on the ongoing probe of Russia’s alleged meddling of U.S. elections.

The report came when the United States was flooded with slams against Trump’s reconciliatory remarks that many in the country have seen as a signal to publicly side with Putin in attacking the U.S. intelligence community.

For his part, Trump on Tuesday thanked Senator Rand Paul over his supportive remarks. The Republican lawmaker has made himself quite singular in Congress by saying that “if there wasn’t such acute hatred for President Trump, such a ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ on the left...,” a meeting with a Russian leader could have happened sooner.

He also noted that the current blowback from the meeting “really shows people’s hatred for President Trump.”

The Trump administration’s statement has so far failed to shut the voices of both parties that had been angered over Trump’s unilateralism-laden foreign policies since his inauguration.(Xinhua)