"For reasons we do not yet know, the President cannot bring himself to criticize Putin"

A State Dept. official who is a foreign service officer told ABC News the message from Trump thanking Putin is “really quite sad.”

“I’m not even angry, it’s just saddening,” the official said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official cited what they say is the perception among State Dept. employees that Trump does not support the institution or its diplomats abroad and a sense that “he just doesn’t get it.”

A former U.S. ambassador also noted a pattern in the comments: “For reasons we do not yet know, the President cannot bring himself to criticize Putin.”