Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday 18, 2018
After Putin summit outrage, Trump says he accepts that Russia meddled
July 16, 2018
After outrage over his failure to hold Russia accountable for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he accepts the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia did in fact meddle in the election.
At a joint news conference with Putin after a summit in Helsinki on Monday, Trump stunned politicians back home by shying away from criticizing Putin for Moscow’s efforts to undermine the election, contradicting the findings of American intelligence agencies.
After outrage over his failure to hold Russia accountable for interfering in the 2016 U.S. election during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he accepts the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia did in fact meddle in the election.
April 8, 2017
At a joint news conference with Putin after a summit in Helsinki on Monday, Trump stunned politicians back home by shying away from criticizing Putin for Moscow’s efforts to undermine the election, contradicting the findings of American intelligence agencies.
On Monday, when asked about the meddling, Trump said that while his intelligence officials had said “they think it’s Russia” that Putin “just said it’s not Russia.”
“I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be,” Trump said.
But back at the White House on Tuesday, he told reporters that he meant to say wouldn’t instead of would. He told reporters, “The sentence should have been I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.”
June 7, 2000
As the president said he has “full faith” in the intelligence agencies, the lights in the conference room briefly went out. As they came back on, he said that while he feels strongly that Russia’s actions had no impact on the outcome of the election, he accepts the intelligence community’s conclusion that meddling took place.
But even as he tried to clarify his previous statement and assert support for U.S. intelligence agencies, he left room for other actors to be implicated. (Source: CBC News)