President Trump told reporters on Air Force One Saturday that he believes Putin's denials of election interference and thinks U.S. former intelligence officials are "political hacks."
The next day, Trump attempted to adjust his remarks:
He tried to have it both ways Sunday on the issue of Russian interference in last year’s presidential race, saying he believes both the U.S. intelligence agencies when they say Russia meddled and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sincerity in claiming that his country did not.
“I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election,” Trump said of Putin at a news conference in Hanoi with Vietnam’s president.
“As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies,” Trump said. “As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”
This assertion comes just days after news broke that Trump sent CIA Director Mike Pompeo to meet with a conspiracy theorist who believes the DNC hack was an inside job. In addition, as Trump brought up the issue of new Russian sanctions as an example of his belief the intelligence community's assessment of election interference, he failed to mention how his administration stalled on implementation until pushed by Congress to take action:
In Hanoi on Sunday, Trump also pointed to sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Russia as punishment for election meddling. “They were sanctioned at a very high level, and that took place very recently,” he said. “It’s now time to get back to healing a world that is shattered and broken.”
Trump’s Asia trip ends as it begins: shadowed by Russia (Washington Post)