Trump backs U.S. intel after summit comments fuel outrage
President says he misspoke regarding Putin’s denial of meddling
WASHINGTON – Seeking to quell the furor over his apparent embrace of Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he accepts the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Russians interfered with the 2016 election – and added that he misspoke Monday regarding Putin’s denial of interference.
“I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place – could be other people also,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump spoke before a meeting with Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee that came a day after he faced bipartisan criticism for
pro-Putin comments following Monday’s summit in Helsinki, where he accepted Putin’s denial of Moscow’s election meddling.
“I have great confidence in my intelligence people,” Trump said Monday in Helsinki with the Russian president at his side, “but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
During his walk-back attempt at the White House, Trump said he misspoke during his news conference with Putin, and that he meant to say he saw no reason why it “wouldn’t” be Russia that interfered in the election. “In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word ‘would’ instead of ‘wouldn’t,’ ” Trump told reporters.
He also claimed that Russian activity had “no impact at all” on his victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s critics, meanwhile, showed no signs of backing down.
Lawmakers from both parties discussed possible legislation to counter some of the president’s moves, ranging from restricting tariff authority to placing more sanctions on Russia if Russians interfere with the 2018 congressional elections or the 2020 presidential contest.
Congressional Democrats mocked what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York described as Trump’s attempt to “squirm away” from his Monday comments. “If the president can’t say directly to President Putin that he is wrong and we are right and our intelligence agencies are right, it’s ineffective, and worse, another sign of weakness,” Schumer said.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump blamed the media for misinterpreting his remarks in Helsinki and defended the Putin news conference by citing the thoughts of a rare supporter who stuck up for him: Sen. Rand Paul.
“Thank you @RandPaul, you really get it!” Trump tweeted.
Paul was one of the few Republicans to defend the president after he accepted Putin’s denials that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, despite the conclusions of U.S. intelligence officials that Russians hacked Democratic officials and pushed phony news to help Trump.
Many Republicans noted that Putin has long sought to divide western countries he sees as rivals, and Trump’s comments played into that Russian agenda.
When asked, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to critique Trump’s performance by name. But the Senate Republican leader told reporters on Capitol Hill that he wants to deliver a message from Congress to NATO and the EU: U.S. allies are well aware of the threat from Moscow.
In both houses of Congress, Republicans blasted the Trump-Putin summit and distanced themselves from Trump’s assertion in Helsinki that both the U.S. and Moscow were to blame for international friction.
Pushing back against the White House in unusually strong terms, House Speaker Paul Ryan described Putin’s Russia as a “menacing government” and said he had no doubt that the Kremlin attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
“Russia is trying to undermine democracy itself, to de-legitimize democracy, so for some reason they can look good by comparison,” Ryan told reporters.