Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley Jeffrey (Jeff) Alan MerkleyThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Trump, Biden renew push for Latino support Sunday shows - Trump team defends coronavirus response Oregon senator says Trump's blame on 'forest management' for wildfires is 'just a big and devastating lie' MORE (D) slammed President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE's support for Russia's readmission to the Group of Seven (G-7) on Friday, suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin might have something on Trump that could have contributed to his decision.

In a tweet, Merkley accused the president of doing Putin's "bidding," while distancing key U.S. allies, despite Russia's involvement with the Syrian civil war and Moscow meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

"Ok, really: what does Putin have on @realDonaldTrump? Russia has attacked our election, invaded Ukraine, slaughtered innocent Syrians, and yet Trump does Russia’s bidding while alienating our allies who stand with us. Which country is the American President working for?" he tweeted.

Ok, really: what does Putin have on @realDonaldTrump? Russia has attacked our election, invaded Ukraine, slaughtered innocent Syrians, and yet Trump does Russia’s bidding while alienating our allies who stand with us. Which country is the American President working for? https://t.co/gZLNMxSbCW — Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) June 8, 2018

Merkley's tweet came hours after Trump told reporters before leaving for the G-7 summit in Canada that Russia should be readmitted to the group of powerful nations, despite it not being "politically correct" to say so.

“With that being said, Russia should be in this meeting,” he said. "Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting?"

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“Whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run,” Trump added. “And in the G-7, which used be the G-8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”

Minutes after Merkley's tweet, former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Democratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida Harris faces pivotal moment with Supreme Court battle MORE voiced similar concerns on Twitter.

In a tweet, Biden said Trump's comment “makes no sense,” and denounced the president for wanting to "reward" Putin.

“Putin’s Russia invaded its neighbors, violated our sovereignty by undermining elections, and attacks dissidents abroad,” Biden wrote. “Yet our President wants to reward him with a seat at the table while alienating our closest democratic allies. It makes no sense.”

Merkley, a top critic of the Trump administration, ratcheted up his criticism of Trump in recent days by posting a video of himself attempting to gain access to an immigration detention facility in Texas.

"The reason why I came is this new policy that the attorney general has in place of families that are waiting for the adjudication of their application for asylum in the U.S., and the children are being separated," Merkley said in a Facebook video before being barred entry.