Donald Trump: Vladimir Putin told me Russia didn't meddle in US election
President Donald Trump has said that Vladimir Putin told him there was no Russian interference in the US election, and that he was offended by the mere suggestion.
“He said he didn't meddle,” said Mr Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his 11-day Asia trip.
“I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. But I just asked him again, and he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they're saying he did.”
US intelligence agencies are unanimously agreed that Russia attempted to swing the election in Mr Trump’s favour, through online campaigns and the production of “fake news”.
Robert Mueller and Congress are both investigating whether Mr Trump’s team colluded with the Russians to ensure their victory.
Mr Trump has been loathe to accept his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions, and has vehemently denied any collusion between his team and Russia. He described the former heads of the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency - who have all testified to the extent of Russian interference - as “political hacks”.
And on Saturday he seemed to accept Mr Putin’s assurances above the verdict of the US officials.
“Look, I can't stand there and argue with him,” he said. “I'd rather have him get out of Syria, to be honest with you. I'd rather have him - you know, work with him on the Ukraine than standing and arguing about whether or not - because that whole thing was set up by the Democrats.”
He said the Russian president was angered by the suggestion that Moscow was attempting to interfere.
“Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn't do that.’ And I believe, I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. I think he's very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth.”
Mr Putin on Saturday said accusations that Moscow meddled in US elections, particularly through contacts with Mr Trump's campaign team, are "fantasies" and attempts to undermine the US presidency.
"Everything about the so-called Russian dossier in the US is a manifestation of continuing domestic political struggle," he told journalists at the Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam.
Mr Trump's acceptance of Mr Putin's assurances were greeted with horror by his critics at home.
"Putin is trained in deception," said Michael McFaul, US ambassador to Russia until 2014.
"The KGB (FSB/SVR) are pros at it. That our president doesn't understand this basic fact is frightening."
Adam Schiff, the most senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, expressed dismay at Mr Trump's taking Mr Putin's word "over the solid evidence of our own intelligence agencies."
On Saturday night, in Vietnam, Mr Trump attended a state banquet in Hanoi, ahead of a welcoming and deal signing ceremony on Sunday, with Vietnam's top leadership.
Much of Mr Trump’s tour so far – through Japan, South Korea and China – has focused on North Korea.
On Saturday North Korea issued its first response, calling the president’s tour a "warmonger's visit for confrontation” and saying it was designed to take away Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons – which they referred to as “its self-defensive nuclear deterrence".
It said Mr Trump's warnings "can never frighten us or put a stop to our advance".
The US president’s next stop is the Philippines for a two-day visit that will include an ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders, capping off the 11 day visit to Asia.
There he will hold talks with President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine leader who is waging a no-holds-barred war on alleged drug dealers, and has boasted of murdering multiple people. On the eve of his meeting with Mr Trump, he claimed to have killed another person – announcing in a press conference that he had stabbed someone to death when he was 16.
Mr Duterte also boasted that his own policy was even more strident than Mr Trump’s much-vaunted America First approach.
“You ---- with my countrymen, I won't let you off the hook,” he said. “Never mind about the human rights advocates.”
