Trump backtracks on comments regarding Russian election interference | City A.M.
US President Donald Trump did a swift U-turn in a meeting with members of Congress this evening, saying that he misspoke when he yesterday rejected the findings of US intelligence agencies into Russia’s interference with the 2016 election.
Trump said that he had meant to say he saw no reason why Russia wouldn’t be responsible for meddling in the election, despite yesterday confirming the opposite at a press conference in Helsinki after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Let me be totally clear in saying that, and I’ve said this many times, I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” said Trump in today’s meeting. “Could be other people also.”
“I have the strongest respect for our US intelligence agencies, headed by my people,” he later added.
Read more: Helsinki camaraderie: Putin admits he wanted Trump to win US election
He also rowed back on comments made at Helsinki on Twitter last night, after an immediate outcry of treachery from US officials.
As I said today and many times before, “I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.” However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along! #HELSINKI2018— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2018
US senator, fellow Republican and 2008 presidential runner-up John Mccain called yesterday’s press conference “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory”.
Still, Trump was keen to emphasise this evening that his meeting with Putin was a success, and that any actions Russia had taken had no impact on the 2016 election.
He added that if necessary, he would consider imposing additional sanctions on Russia to ensure they would not “get away with [election interference] again”.
Read more: Trump blames probe for poor Russia relations as backlash to summit grows