President Donald Trump ignored the advice of his staff to take a tough posture towards Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Helsinki, instead acting 'very much counter to the plan' by not saying a critical word about Moscow on any of the main issues of contention during his 45-minute press conference, people familiar with the discussions told The Washington Post on Tuesday.

"Everyone around Trump" was urging him to take a firm stance with Putin, according to one of those familiar with the preparations, with advisers going over such topics as Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s interference in the American elections, but Trump "made a game-time decision" to take a different approach.

The Post talked to more than a half dozen White House officials, advisers and diplomats who were familiar with the preparations for the Putin meeting.

Trump’s performance at the news conference was widely condemned, including by many within his own party, for siding with Russia over U.S. intelligence agencies while Trump stood right next to Putin, one of America’s greatest geopolitical foes, a scenario which many critics found unprecedented for any American president.

Critics even included such steadfast allies as former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called Trump’s performance the biggest mistake of his presidency and one that must be corrected immediately.

One White House official told the Post there were indications that the summit might not go according to plan during the two days Trump was at his golf resort in Scotland, where he spent much of the time upset that the Justice Department’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officials for interfering in the 2016 election could hurt him politically.

However, not everyone in the know with whom the Post talked to agreed that Trump acted unilaterally, with one senior White House official saying the president did not act unilaterally and had numerous sessions with senior administration officials preparing for the summit in addition to briefing materials.