Trump: I hold Putin ‘responsible’ for 2016 election interference

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President Trump was “very strong” with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the prospect of future Kremlin-linked interference in U.S. elections, he stated in a new interview.

“Very strong on the fact that we can’t have meddling, we can’t have any of that,” Trump answered when asked by CBS News on Tuesday what he told Putin in Helsinki regarding reports about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“I let him know we can’t have this, we’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be,” he continued.


Trump further stated that assessments from his own U.S. intelligence officials on Russian efforts to undermine the U.S. political process were “true,” adding he holds Putin responsible for the operations.

“Well, I would because he’s in charge of the country, just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country,” he said. “So certainly as the leader of a country you would have to hold him responsible, yes.”

Trump came under fire on Monday from members of both parties for comments he made at the conclusion of his talks with Putin in Helsinki. The president appeared to accept Putin’s denials rather than trust his own intelligence team. He attempted to walk back his remarks on Tuesday, saying he misspoke in his Monday comments before the press.

“The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,’” Trump said. “So you can put that in and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself.”

[Opinion: Trump’s Putin press conference walk-back is not actually a walk-back]

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