President Trump backs US intelligence on Russia allegations, slams Putin ‘haters’

PRESIDENT Donald Trump said Sunday he backed US intelligence agencies who concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election, but slammed "fools" who oppose better ties with Moscow.

Key former Trump aides are under US investigation for alleged collaboration with the Kremlin, and the issue of whether Moscow interfered with last year's vote has overshadowed the tail end of the president's Asia tour, however none have thus been been indicted for crimes related to the Trump campaign colluding with Moscow.

President Trump returned to the subject in an early morning Twitter storm in Vietnam, which also saw him take a sarcastic dig at North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un after the Communist dictator had called him “old.”

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!”

Addressing a press conference in Hanoi, the Presi- dent was asked to clarify comments he had made on Air Force One the day before about Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence that Moscow had never tried to affect the US vote.

"I believe he feels he and Russia did not meddle in the election," he answered.

"As to whether or not I believe it or not, I'm with our agencies. I believe in our intelligence agencies."

In his barrage of tweets, Trump slammed "haters and fools" who questioned his efforts to improve ties with Russia.

"There’re always playing politics - bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!" he wrote.

In May, US intelligence chiefs told Congress they agreed with their analysts' conclusion that Russia had in some way interfered in the 2016 election, although we still do not known to what extent this “collusion” has supposed to have taken place.

CIA director Mike Pompeo, who was appointed by Trump, said Saturday he still held to that evaluation.

President Trump's tour of Asia, which moved to its final leg in Manila on Sunday, has been dominated by the issue of North Korea and its ambitions to become a fully-fledged nuclear state.

His public pronouncements on Pyongyang over the last week have veered from denouncing it as a "cruel dictatorship" to offering a hand of friendship to Kim.

He later insisted he hadn't been joking about eventually befriending a man he denounced last week as a "twisted" dictator.

"It's certainly a possibility. If that did happen, it would be a good thing," he told reporters.

North Korea is extremely sensitive to any remarks that might appear disrespectful to the country's ruling Kim dynasty, whose members are revered as near deities.

In another tweet Sunday, Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed to toughen sanctions against North Korea, whose impoverished economy is hugely reliant on trade with its giant neighbor.

"President Xi of China has stated that he is upping the sanctions against (North Korea). Said he wants them to denuclearize. Progress is being made," he wrote.

The US administration thinks China's economic leverage over North Korea is the key to strong-arming Pyongyang into halting its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

President Trump is in the Philippines for a gathering that includes leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Several members of the group, including Hanoi and Manila, claim part of the resource-rich South China Sea, a key trade lane over which Beijing says it has dominion and in which it has built militarized artificial islands.

Vietnam has sought support from Washington on the dispute, and dealmaker Trump said Sunday he could help solve the conflict.

"If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me know. I am a very good mediator," the President told Vietnamese leader Tran Dai Quang.

In the past, China has reacted angrily to any suggestion of US mediation, claiming Washington has no role in the dispute.