Trump says he 'misspoke in Helsinki' and 'sees no reason why Russia would not be responsible' for election meddling
The president did not denounce Russia's interference during a summit with Vladimir Putin earlier this week
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The Independent US
Donald Trump has said "I accept" meddling in the 2016 election took place based on US intelligence agencies conclusions.
The president recently returned from a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, during which he did not denounce Russian interference. However, he has claimed he misspoke and meant to say he does not see a way Russia would not have been responsible for hacking electoral systems.
“I thought it would be obvious but I would like to clarify just in case it wasn't: In a key sentence ... I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'," Mr Trump said ahead of a meeting with his Cabinet and Congressional Republicans.
He clarified: "The sentence should have been 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't or why it wouldn't be Russia'”.
During a joint press conference with Mr Putin, however, the US president said he believed the Russian leader's denial Moscow had anything to do with the US process. For his part, Mr Putin had admitted he had wanted the real estate mogul to win against Hillary Clinton.
The president did not denounce Russia's interference during a summit with Vladimir Putin earlier this week
- Mythili Sampathkumar New York
- @MythiliSk
- 17 comments
Click to follow
The Independent US
Donald Trump has said "I accept" meddling in the 2016 election took place based on US intelligence agencies conclusions.
The president recently returned from a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, during which he did not denounce Russian interference. However, he has claimed he misspoke and meant to say he does not see a way Russia would not have been responsible for hacking electoral systems.
“I thought it would be obvious but I would like to clarify just in case it wasn't: In a key sentence ... I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'," Mr Trump said ahead of a meeting with his Cabinet and Congressional Republicans.
He clarified: "The sentence should have been 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't or why it wouldn't be Russia'”.
During a joint press conference with Mr Putin, however, the US president said he believed the Russian leader's denial Moscow had anything to do with the US process. For his part, Mr Putin had admitted he had wanted the real estate mogul to win against Hillary Clinton.
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