‘I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also,’ says Trump
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he accepts the conclusion by US intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the US presidential election, marking a rare reversal from comments just a day earlier.
Even so, he added that the meddling in the 2016 election “could be other people also”.
Trump came under a torrent of criticism from Democrats and Republicans for statements at his summit with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Monday casting doubt on US findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House that he misspoke at the summit.
“My people came to me and some others, they said they think it’s Russia,” Trump said Monday, while standing next to Putin. “I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
On Tuesday, he said he meant to say he did not see any reason why it would not be Russia.
He said he had just reviewed the transcripts and a clip of the answer he gave at the summit and realised he needed to clarify his statement.
“I’ve said this many times,” Trump said. “I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
But Trump said Russian actions had no impact on the outcome of the vote.
Additional reporting by Reuters
