President Donald Trump has made it clear that the United States will impose sanctions and other punishments on Russia when it's in its interest to do so, but "when it's in our interest to work with Russia, we will do that too," deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Monday, shortly before an announcement was made that several Russian diplomats would be sent home.
"This president has not softened or weakened any position that [former President] Barack Obama had on Russia and, in fact, he has gone much further," Gidley told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"You will remember we gave lethal aid to the Ukraine. We sent troops into Poland. . . Syria. We even expanded oil exports into eastern Europe. Something Barack Obama didn't do."
Trump knows what's right when it comes to dealing with Russia, and also when the United States needs the country as an ally to defeat ISIS or terrorism, Gidley continued.
"When they do things like they did in England with the poisoning of that individual, we sanction them," said Gidley. "We stand up against them when we need to."
Early Monday, shortly after Gidley's appearance, the Trump administration expelled 60 diplomats and ordered the Russian consulate in Seattle to close. The expelled Russians have seven days to leave the country. The consulate was picked because of its proximity to a U.S. Navy base, officials said.
Gidley, meanwhile, complained Monday that the media is focusing on Russia, but "we don't hear there is no collusion."
"We don't hear the facts that after a year-and-a-half of spending money, us sending over all of our documents and making witnesses available," he said. "There is no collusion there all we hear is Russia is a huge problem for this administration. And it's just simply not. "
Gidley also commented about Trump's continued call for a border wall, saying the fight will continue.
"That's something the president ran on," he said. "It's something one of the reasons I think he got elected, because he understands that walls work."