In a direct contradiction to his intelligence chief, Donald Trump said. today that Russia is no longer targeting the United States voting process. From The Washington Post:
- President Trump, who has been under fire for not aggressively confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin over election interference, said Russia is no longer targeting the United States.
- “Thank you very much, no,” Trump said in response to a question about whether Russia is still targeting the United States.
It was last week that the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats said the “warning lights are blinking red” on continued Russian interference.
From The New York Times:
- Mr. Trump’s comments were the latest in a dizzying collection of conflicting statements from Mr. Trump since he emerged from a private meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday in Helsinki, Finland. And they directly contradict assertions from Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, who has repeatedly said that Russia continues to try to interfere with American democracy.
- Beginning at 5:30am this morning Trump tweeted this, defending his press conference performance:
So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018
This is a breaking story and will be updated.