HANOI, Vietnam (AP) – President Donald Trump said yesterday he believes US intelligence agencies which have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presidential election.
But Trump also said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is sincere when he says Russia didn’t interfere.
“I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said of Putin in a news conference with Vietnamese President here. “As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies.”
He added, “As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”
Top US intelligence officials, including those at the Central Intelligence Agency, have concluded that Russia interfered in the election to help the Republican Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
A special counsel and multiple Congressional committees are also investigating potential collusion between Moscow and Trump campaign aides. That probe has so far led to the indictments of Trump’s former campaign chairman and another top aide for financial and other crimes unrelated to the campaign, as well as a guilty plea from a Trump foreign policy adviser.
Trump also seemed to suggest that it was time to remove the sanctions Congress has slapped on Russia in retaliation.
“It’s now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken,” said Trump. “Those are very important things.”
It’s a question that has followed Trump since January, when he said for the first time at a press conference at Trump Tower shortly before taking office that he accepted Russia was behind the election year hacking of Democrats that roiled the White House race.
“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,” Trump said then, quickly adding that “other countries and other people” also hack US interests.
