Trump takes U-turn, blames Putin for 2016 U.S. poll meddling

Asked by reporters on Wednesday if Russian Federation was still targeting the United States, Trump shook his head and said, “No”.

“The sentence should have been: ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russian Federation, ‘ ” he said.

During a news conference after Monday’s summit, Mr Trump was asked about alleged Russian meddling in the USA election.

However, Trump went through with the planned meeting. The reporter said that she asked Trump a follow-up question, “No?” I can only say I do have confidence in our intelligence agencies as now constituted.

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said last week that “the warning signs are there”. In a speech, Trump said that while he accepts the intelligence community’s conclusion, “It could be other people also”.

Members of Congress, including several powerful Republicans, distanced themselves from Trump’s remarks and aligned themselves with U.S. intelligence estimates that Russian Federation had interfered in the election.

He added that he stood behind the USA intelligence agencies’ assessment of Moscow’s election meddling.

Senators Jeff Flake and Chris Coons, an Arizona Republican and a Delaware Democrat, are reportedly working on a nonbinding resolution to endorse the intelligence committee’s findings.

The problems for Mr Trump began in Finland’s capital when he showed deference to a man who has been repeatedly accused of war crimes, corruption and brutality. “I was in the room as well and I didn’t take it the way you did”. But while the president has stopped short of saying whether he believes Putin did, in fact, order Russian efforts, he did say that he holds Putin personally responsible.

“We see much of the world threatening to return to a more unsafe, more brutal, way of doing business”, he said. “Faced with two such different Trumps, voters are left with no idea what the president really thinks or believes”, the report added.

Trump tweeted early Wednesday: “Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along”. We have our hostages back. In a tabloid interview, he criticized May’s Brexit plans, said he might no longer be open to a trade deal with the United Kingdom, and said one of May’s political rival would be an excellent prime minister, undermining her at a time when her government is in turmoil. “It is appalling that the president can not seem to stand up to Vladimir Putin”. The White House later said he was saying “no” to answering questions.

During his news conference in Helsinki with Putin, while the whole world watched, he praised the Russian President’s strength and explained, “He just said it’s not Russia”.

“The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.’ Sort of a double negative”, Trump told reporters.

In a series of Twitter posts on Wednesday morning, Trump continued his campaign to recast interpretation of the Helsinki meeting.

But even while walking back numerous answers he gave Monday, Trump still defended his performance at the Helsinki press conference.

Trump says he and Putin discussed many important subjects.

CHANG: All right, to talk more about all of this we’ve got NPR’s Scott Horsley on the line, who joins us from the White House.