A week of reversals
Under fire after the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and his aides have walked back many comments on Russia and the federal reserve
'WOULD' VS 'WOULDN'T'
On Monday, Trump was asked who he believes on accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential polls — Putin, who denies interfering, or US intelligence agencies. Trump said: "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"
It took more than 24 hours for Trump to take back his remarks. "The sentence should have been: I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia. Sort of a double negative,” he said
He also injected some uncertainty into his walk-back by saying: "Could be other people also; there's a lot of people out there"
'INCREDIBLE' TURNS REGRETTABLE
On Monday, Trump praised Putin's "incredible offer" of allowing the US to question the 12 Russian military officials indicted for hacking into the Democratic presidential campaign. In exchange, he said, Russian authorities could interview several Americans the Kremlin accuses of unspecified crimes.
By Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a clarifying statement: "It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it."
NO MEANS YES?
On Wednesday, Trump was asked by a reporter if Russia was still targeting the US, to which he replied "no". Sanders later said his comment was misinterpreted as Trump was saying "no" to answering additional questions — although that didn't appear to be the case
RESPECTFUL CRITICISM?
On Thursday, Trump said he was "not happy" that the federal reserve was raising interest rates, breaking with long-standing tradition at the White House of avoiding any influence on the US central bank. A White House spokeswoman later said Trump "respects the independence of the Fed" However, on Friday, Trump called on the federal reserve to change course. "The United States should not be penalized because we are doing so well," he tweeted
PUTIN'S WALK-BACK
Putin had his own walk-back. In Helsinki, he alleged investor Bill Browder, who is accused of financial crimes in Russia, contributed $400 million to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. On Tuesday, the Russian general prosecutor's office clarified that Putin misspoke and meant $400,000