Advertisement

Trump questions U.S. on 2016 intel

 
New York Times President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday.
New York Times President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday.
Published July 16, 2018

HELSINKI — President Donald Trump stood next to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Monday and publicly challenged the conclusion of his own intelligence agencies that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election, wrapping up what he called a "deeply productive" summit with an extraordinary show of trust for a leader accused of attacking American democracy.

"They said they think it's Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia," Trump said, only moments after the Russian president conceded that he had favored Trump in the election because of his promises of warmer relations with Moscow.

"I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia that was responsible for the election hacking, Trump added. "I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

The 45-minute news conference offered the remarkable spectacle of the American and Russian presidents both pushing back on the notion of Moscow's election interference, with Putin demanding evidence of something he said had never been proved and Trump appearing to agree.

When asked directly whether he believed Putin or his own intelligence agencies, Trump said there were "two thoughts" on the matter and then changed the subject, demanding to know why the FBI never examined the hacked computer servers of the Democratic National Committee and asking about the fate of emails missing from the server of Hillary Clinton, his campaign rival.

"Where are those servers?" Trump said. "Where are Hillary Clinton's emails?"

Asked by an American reporter whether he had wanted Trump to win and directed an effort designed to bring about that result, Putin quickly answered: "Yes I did, yes I did, because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal."

Trump's statements were a remarkable break with his administration, which on Friday indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for cyberattacks intended to interfere in the presidential contest. The indictment explained, in detail, how Russian intelligence officers hacked the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign, providing the most explicit account to date of the Russian government's meddling in U.S. democracy.

Putin said he would look into the possibility of having Russian law enforcement authorities assist Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Moscow's election interference, in questioning the 12 people who were charged. Putin said that Russia in return would request U.S. assistance in cases of interest to Moscow, including the ability to send Russian law enforcement officials to work in the United States.

Emerging from his meeting with Putin, Trump cited a litany of factors that he said had stood in the way of better relations between the United States and Russia. He blamed Democrats' bitterness over having lost an election they should have won and Mueller's investigation, which the president once again branded a "witch hunt." But Trump claimed to have defused all of that tension in a matter of minutes.

Want breaking news in your inbox?

Subscribe to our free News Alerts newsletter

You’ll receive real-time updates on major issues and events in Tampa Bay and beyond as they happen.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

"Our relationship has never been worse than it is now," Trump said. "However, that changed as of about four hours ago."

Trump began his day Monday on Twitter, blaming U.S. "foolishness and stupidity" for years of escalating tension with Russia, as well as the "Rigged Witch Hunt," his term for Mueller's probe.

The comment appeared to absolve Moscow of many irritants in the relationship with Russia, including the election hacking, the annexation of Crimea, Russian backing for rebels in Ukraine and for the Assad regime in Syria, and Moscow's suspected use of a nerve agent to poison people in Britain.

Russia's Foreign Ministry recirculated the comment, chiming in, "We agree."

The summit capped a weeklong European trip in which Trump disparaged NATO allies, castigated Germany as a captive of Russia, criticized the British prime minister on her own soil and branded the European Union a "foe," while musing about his wish for warmer relations with Putin, whom his government considers a potentially dangerous adversary to be countered.

As Putin and Trump emerged from a longer-than-expected set of talks that included a 130-minute one-on-one session with no advisers present, they said they had made progress in forging the bond both were seeking.

"We had direct, open, deeply productive dialogue," Trump said. "It went very well."

Putin said the two were "glad with the outcome of our first full-scale meeting," adding, "I hope that we start to understand each other better and I'm grateful to Donald for it."

The two presidents said they would work together on nuclear arms control, and the two also discussed working together on Syria, where Russia is backing the government of Bashar Assad, and where the United States badly wants Putin to curtail Iran's influence.