President denies visit was to gain support for Iran sanctions or due to fears that Putin plans to ‘test Nato resolve’US politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capit al unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip.Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland. Continue reading... ...read more read less