The claim was unusual enough that it led some Republicans to criticize the move. Senator Marco Rubio likened teaming with Russia on cybersecurity to "partnering with Assad on a 'Chemical Weapons Unit,'" while Senator John McCain joked on Face the Nation that Putin's assistance would be helpful "since he's doing the hacking."

There's no mention of whether or not Putin was receptive to the idea. As it stands, there's a good chance that Congress and intelligence organizations would balk at the concept before it got off the ground. The concern isn't so much that it could happen as that it was even discussed in the first place -- even if you don't believe that Russia meddled in the US election, its fondness for state-sponsored hacking isn't exactly a well-kept secret.

Update: Trump has since backpedaled, claiming that discussion of a cybersecurity unit "doesn't mean I think it can happen." If that's the case, then, why bring it up with the public?

Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded.. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017