HELSINKI, Finland — President Donald Trump, while standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, refused to acknowledge what major U.S. major intelligence agencies have been saying for more than a year: That Russian nationals, following orders from Putin, interfered in the 2016 election and carried out cyberattacks on American political figures.
Reporters asked Trump directly about election interference during a joint news conference he and Putin held Monday after first meeting one-on-one and then holding a larger meeting that included top American and Russian presidential aides. In response, President Trump, standing alongside a smiling Putin, said he could not be certain that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Trump’s statements were a stunning development, given that the top intelligence agencies in the United States including the FBI, CIA, and National Security Agency have all said they believe Russia meddled in the election.
“They said they think it’s Russia,” Mr. Trump said, explaining that while U.S. intelligence agencies say Russia meddled, Putin told Trump directly that Russia did not. “I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Trump went on. “I have confidence in both parties,” he said before turning to partisan politics. “What about Hillary Clinton’s emails?”
Trump also said Putin felt “very strongly” about Russian election interference and said Putin “has an interesting idea.” Later, Trump hinted that Putin’s ideas was to have Special Counsel Robert Mueller come to Russia and watch as Russian officials interviewed the 12 Russian nationals indicted for meddling in the 2016 election.
Putin said it was “nonsense” to think Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
When asked whether he wanted Mr. Trump to win, President Putin smiled. “Yes I did. Yes I did,” he said. “Because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal.”
Presidents Putin and Trump held their much anticipated meeting here Monday–but only after Putin, who is often late to meetings with other world leaders, made Trump wait almost an hour for him to arrive from Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin spoke at a joint news conference today. Watch their remarks in the…
