After Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Special Counsel Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities on Friday, President Trump lashed out on Twitter over the weekend, attempting to rewrite the history of his past statements on the topic:
I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said “it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.” The Russian “hoax” was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia - it never did!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 18, 2018
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders repeated the president's false claim during Tuesday's White House press briefing:
Politifact weighed in with the facts after the president's Sunday tweet, pointing out multiple times Trump denied Russian election interference.
In a May 2017 interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Trump said "this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story."
In September 2017, when reports of Russian-backed Facebook ads came out, Trump tweeted, "The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook.
(...)
In reality, he called the matter a "made-up story," and a "hoax." He has said that he believes Russian President Putin’s denial of any Russian involvement. He told Time, "I don’t believe they (Russia) interfered."
Even when he has acknowledged the possibility that the Russians interfered, he has added that it could have been other countries or even individuals.
Trump’s denial doesn’t match what he has actually said.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
Politifact also reminds us that Trump's claim of Russian interference being a made-up story was their 2017 Lie of the Year.
Donald Trump falsely says he never denied Russian meddling (Politifact)
2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a 'made-up story' (Politifact)