Posted on 07/17/2018 1:14:55 PM PDT by babble-on
July 17 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he misspoke during a news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he said he didn't "see any reason why" Russia would interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.
Speaking to reporters from the White House, Trump said he was surprised at the reaction he received over his public remarks with Putin on Monday.
"I have to say, I came back and I said ... 'what's the big deal?'" he said.
Trump said he reviewed the transcript and clips from the news conference and said he made a mistake when he answered a reporter who asked the U.S. president if he would publicly denounce the election meddling to Putin. Trump first questioned why the FBI never directly reviewed Democratic National Committee servers -- which U.S. officials said were hacked by Russian intelligence officers.
"My people came to me -- [Director of National Intelligence] Dan Coats came to me and some others -- they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia," Trump said.
"I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be, but I really do want to see the server."
The mistake came in the last sentence.
"I realize there is a need for some clarification," he said. "In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.'
'The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia,'" Trump added, acknowledging that it was a double negative.
The president said he has "full faith and support for America's great intelligence agencies."
He drew sharp criticism from U.S. lawmakers, including top leaders from his own party, for his remarks Monday with Putin. He said he holds both countries responsible for election interference and called the Robert Mueller probe "a disaster for our country."
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Americans had "never seen a president of the United States support an American adversary the way" Trump did at the conference.
"For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American law enforcement, American defense officials, and American intelligence agencies is thoughtless, dangerous, and weak. The president is putting himself over our country," Schumer wrote on Twitter. "Starting with the president's trip to NATO and ending with his shameful performance at today's press conference, [Trump] has strengthened our adversaries while weakening our defenses and those of our allies."
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., added there is "no question" Russia interfered in the election, citing findings by the American intelligence community but also the House Committee on Intelligence.
"The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally," Ryan said. "There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals. The United States must be focused on holding Russia accountable and putting an end to its vile attacks on democracy."
So has the Treason been called off?
This morning he was defending it. I guess too many people weren’t buying it. So is he now like the kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar?
It would be pitiful if it weren’t hilarious. And of course all the people saying it was genius now have to explain how this, too, is genius.
This was a mistake, Trump should have just let it go. The so called intelligence community taped his phone conversations and released them to the public, planted spies in his campaign and administration, invented a collusion campaign and investigation, just to name a few. This puts blood in the water and is fodder for all these losers that want the world to burn because they lost an election.
Our national security agencies the FBI, CIA, and NSA have been saying there was mountains of evidence the Russians were trying to subvert our election process in 2016.
So far, they haven’t come up with bupkiss on the topic.
They supposedly have twelve folks who broke into the Democrat server, but never inspected the server themselves.
At this point after seeing the lack of evidence, and watching how the FBI has been documented to be absolutely corrupt, I agree with the president’s earlier statements.
I have no trust whatsoever with these three agencies.
I think Trump’s real mistake is recanting. No, he was right!
It was an underwhelming performance. I don’t think he believes half of what he said. I was SO hoping he was going to announce Rosenweasel was out after all he set this cluster bleep up with his little show Friday
I’ll still take Trump over another DC smooth talker taking us down the toilet.
I imagine you were thrilled when Obama kissed Castro’s ass.
Oh I hated Obama, too, believe me. I haven’t liked any of these people since Alan Simpson retired.
So he’s walking it back? Do NOT back down, Mr. President. If you do they will make sure you have to walk something back several times a day.
IGNORE them ... we do.
Don’t waist your time with losers like babble-on, his only goal is to get someone to respond. Some people just want to watch the world burn
Agreed. So far their evidence consists of: Russians have internet access.
All those who attacked him before listening to their president’s explanation deserve to be thrown out of the Republican party.
Well there you have it.
I stand corrected.
LOL
You are right though.
And since Trump is so alpha, for him to recant like this looks even weaker than it would for a lesser man. After Rosenstein's stunt on Friday there was no easy path, but hindsight is 20/20 and in hindsight I wish Trump had cancelled the public portion of the Helsinki meeting.
I'm totally conjecturing on this point and hope I'm entirely wrong, but I'm morbidly considering the projected public-opinion backlash that made Trump's team move into damage control in such a rushed manner. Pray God this incident and the ensuing spin doesn't hand tge midterms to the dems.
I don’t give a Shiite.
I Trust Trump.
Roll, MAGA Roll!
He needs Sessions and Rosenstein. And all the other unprotected people within justice and the FBO. Otherwise he would have set them free. They are a diversion focal point. Sort of like a magician’s slight of hand.
Trump made a gaffe but how many felonies have the swamp creatures committed related to the Russian hoax?
Get A Grip.
So was it weakness that he capitulated.
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