President Donald Trump ignited a fresh wave of debate when he issued a series of tweets Sunday morning describing the outcome of his Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit proceedings in Hamburg, Germany.

The highly anticipated first meeting between the two men as sitting presidents was the subject of intense speculation. Much of the media wondered whether Trump would confront his Russian counterpart about the interference in the United States’ 2016 presidential election.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reported that Trump “pressed” Putin on the election interference “on more than one occasion” and raised “the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.”

Trump added to Tillerson’s account on Twitter.

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“I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion … We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!” Trump tweeted.

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Pundits and liberal politicians have been dissatisfied with Trump’s desire to improve the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Russia, claiming a rapprochement would minimize Russia’s election interference. Although Trump said he confronted Putin over the meddling, the U.S. president also insisted that it is better for the U.S. to maintain a working relationship with the Kremlin and seek cooperation toward common goals.

“Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded … and safe,” Trump tweeted, “Questions were asked about why the CIA & FBI had to ask the DNC 13 times for their SERVER, and were rejected, still don’t … have it. Fake News said 17 intel agencies when actually 4 (had to apologize). Why did Obama do NOTHING when he had info before election?”

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Trump’s announcement that he and Putin were considering forming a joint cybersecurity unit dominated the Sunday morning talk shows.

“When it comes to Russia I am dumbfounded, I am disappointed, and at the end of the day [Trump’s] hurting his presidency by not embracing the fact that Putin is a bad guy,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding that the cybersecurity unit was “pretty close” to the “dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”

Graham blasted Trump and Tillerson for being so “ready to forgive and forget” when it comes to Russian election meddling.

“This whole idea about moving forward without punishing Russia is undermining his entire presidency,” Graham claimed.

The president added, “Sanctions were not discussed at my meeting with President Putin. Nothing will be done until the Ukrainian & Syrian problems are solved!”

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Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a frequent Trump critic, mocked the president’s idea, saying Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he was sure “that Vladimir Putin could be of enormous assistance in that effort since he is doing the hacking.”

Although McCain agreed that “it’s time to move forward,” he insisted that “there has to be a price to pay” for Russia, complaining that “there’s been no penalty whatsoever,” even though former President Barack Obama introduced sanctions against Russia and the Senate is working on another set of sanctions.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “we might as well mail our ballot boxes to Moscow.”

“I don’t think we can expect the Russians to be any kind of credible partner in some cybersecurity unit. I think that would be dangerously naïve for this country. If that’s our best election defense, we might as well just mail our ballot boxes to Moscow,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defended Trump’s pursuit of a working relationship with Russia.

“It doesn’t mean we ever take our eyes off of the ball, it doesn’t mean we ever trust Russia,” Haley said on CNN’s “State of the Union. “We can’t trust Russia, and we won’t ever trust Russia. But you keep those that you don’t trust closer, so that you can always keep an eye on them and keep them in check.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said,d uring an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” that the creation of a joint cybersecurity operation would be a “significant accomplishment” for the administration and is a “very important step forward.”

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“What we want to make sure is that we coordinate with Russia, that we’re focused on cybersecurity together, that we make sure that they never interfere in any democratic elections or conduct any cybersecurity,” Mnuchin said. “And this is like any other strategic alliance, whether we’re doing military exercises with our allies or anything else. This is about having capabilities to make sure that we both fight cyber together, which I think is a very significant accomplishment for President Trump.”

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus also weighed in, on Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” noting that Trump “absolutely did not believe” Putin’s denials about interfering in the U.S. elections and that the creation of a cybersecurity unit did not give Putin a tacit pass.

“[Trump] went after that issue at least two separate times. This was not just a five-minute piece of the conversation. This was an extensive portion of the meeting,” Priebus said to Trump broaching the topic. “And after going after it with President Putin more than once — two times maybe even three times — the president at that point, after spending a large portion of the meeting on the subject, moved on to other topics.”

As for the idea of a cybersecurity unit, Priebus said it “doesn’t mean that [Russia] is off the hook.”

“But what it means … is that we’re not going to forgo progress simply because we have a disagreement in regards to this meddling in the United States election. What it means is that we need to move forward with things like a cease-fire in Syria, which is going to save a lot of lives, which we are doing I think starting today in southwestern Syria,” Priebus said. “It means we need to move forward with working together with ISIS. We need to move forward with working together in resolving the conflict in Ukraine.”