If you look closely at Trump's defensive tweet, he isn't specifically denying that he used "s***hole countries". He would like to but he knows that his fellow Republicans in the meeting won't lie for him like his cabinet members will. Also, if Trump didn't think that Durbin would relay this comment to the press then that is a poor reflection of his judgment... and then you have this quote from Sen. Roy Blunt (R) Missouri:
"It's an unacceptable view of the world, and it's an unacceptable thing to say. You would expect the President to lead in determining how you filter your thoughts, rather than to continue to say things that take a lot away from what's actually getting done." - Roy Blunt (R) Missouri
I guess his refusal to unconditionally defend anything that Donald Trump does or says makes Blunt a liberal too, right?