Fox's Neil Cavuto calls Trump's performance at press conference with Putin 'disgusting'

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

FBN's Neil Cavuto on October 16, 2007.

• Fox Business anchor Neil Cavuto called President Donald Trump's performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin "disgusting."
• He said: "A US president on foreign soil talking to our biggest enemy, or adversary, or competitor ... is essentially letting the guy get away with this. That sets us back a lot."
• Cavuto joined other prominent news anchors, including CNN's Anderson Cooper, in calling out Trump's refusal to condemn Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Fox Business anchor Neil Cavuto issued an uncharacteristically strong condemnation of President Donald Trump on Monday, calling his performance at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin "disgusting." 

After a guest on Cavuto's show, "Your World," argued that the joint press conference "was the time and the place for the president to look Putin squarely in the eye" and warn him to never interfere in a US election again, Cavuto condemned Trump's failure to challenge Putin. 

"But he didn't. And that's what made it disgusting, that's what made his performance disgusting," Cavuto interjected. "I'm sorry, it's the only way I feel. It's not a right or left thing to me, it's just wrong."

Cavuto went on to argue that Trump's refusal to call out Russian meddling in the 2016 election is harmful to American interests. 

"A US president on foreign soil talking to our biggest enemy, or adversary, or competitor - I don't know how we define them these days - is essentially letting the guy get away with this and not even offering a mild - a mild - criticism. That sets us back a lot." 

In an exchange with Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney, Cavuto, expressing his shock, suggested Trump's performance could be blamed on "jet lag and time differences."

While Cavuto is occasionally critical of the president and his administration, FBN has grown its large audience on the backs of right-leaning anchors who largely embrace Trump's economic and cultural vision.

Trump's press conference with Putin was the first between the US and Russian presidents in nearly a decade.

Trump did not explicitly state that he believes Putin on the subject of election interference, but he laid partial blame for Russian interference on the US and called Putin's denials "extremely powerful."

The press conference occurred after Putin and Trump held a meeting in which they were joined only by translators. Trump was widely criticized, including by former CIA Director John Brennan, for meeting with Putin alone.

Trump said that Monday's meeting helped improve US-Russia relations dramatically.

"Our relationship has never been worse than it is now," Trump said. "However, that changed as of about four hours ago."

The highly anticipated summit came days after Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian election interference. During Monday's press conference, Trump referred to the Mueller investigation as a "disaster" for the US.

John Haltiwanger contributed to this report.