Trump says Putin is sincere in denial of meddling
once again casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the election to help the Republican Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Trump is in Hanoi for a brief state visit. He’ll depart for the Philippines later today for a pair of summits that will close out his trip.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin did not have a formal meeting while they were in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, but the two spoke informally several times and reached an agreement on a number of principles for the future of war-torn Syria.
Mr. Trump made clear that the issue of Russian meddling in the election hovers over the leaders’ relationship and said it jeopardized their ability to work together on issues includingNorth Korea’s escalating nuclear program and the deadlyconflict in Syria.
“Having a good relationship with Russia’s a great, great thing. And this artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “People will die because of it.”
Mr. Trump danced around the question of whether he believed Mr. Putin’s denials, telling reporters that pressing the issue would have accomplished little.
“Well, look, I can’t stand there and argue with him,” Mr. Trump said. “I’d rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I’d rather have him, you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing about whether or not — ‘cause that whole thing was setup by the Democrats.”
Multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to try to help Mr. Trump win. But Mr. Trump called the former heads of those agencies “political hacks” and argued there’s plenty of reason to be suspicious of their findings.
The comments made clear that Mr. Trump still does not take the meddling seriously and sees little benefit in punishing a nation accused of undermining the most fundamental tenet of American democracy: free and fair elections. They also suggest that Mr. Trump is unlikely to work aggressively to try to prevent future meddling despite repeated warnings from senior intelligence officials that Russia is likely to try to interfere again.
Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation of potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides so far has resulted in two indictments for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea. Congressional committees have also been interviewing campaign and White House staff.
“Trump really raised the topic of so-called interference in US elections,” Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, was quoted by Russian news agencies as telling reporters. “Putin categorically rejected even the hypothetical possibility that Russia could have in some way interfered in the U.S. electoral process.”
Earlier Saturday, the Kremlin issued a statement saying the leaders had reached agreement on a number of principles for the future of civil war-torn Syria now that the Islamic State group haslargely been pushed out.
Among the agreements’ key points, according to the Russians,were an affirmation of de-escalation zones, a system to prevent dangerous incidents between American and Russian forces, and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a Genevapeace process.
The Kremlin quickly promoted the agreement as the White House stayed silent. Mr. Trump told reporters that the deal was reached “very quickly” and that it would save “tremendous numbers of lives.” And he praised his relationship with Mr. Putin, saying the two “seem to have a very good feeling for each other and a good relationship, considering we don’t know each other well.”
Video from the summit in the seaside city of Da Nang, Vietnam, showed Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin shaking hands and chatting, including during the world leaders’ traditional group photo. The two walked together down a path to the photo site, conversing amiably, with Mr. Trump punctuating his thoughts with hand gestures and Mr. Putinsmiling.
Mr. Trump’s visit to Hanoi began with a state dinner during which he showered the country with praise, saying it has “truly become one of the great miracles of the world.” Today, he’ll meet with the country’s president and prime minister before heading to his last stop: the Philippines.