Donald Trump sides with US intelligence agencies on Russian meddling

WASHINGTON: President Trump once again waded into the controversy of whether he thinks Russia meddled in last year’s election, saying on Sunday that he believes “very much in our intelligence agencies”.

A day earlier, the US leader said that Vladimir Putin believed he didn’t interfere, prompting questions about whether Trump actually took the Russian president at his word. The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.

Trump’s comment drew fire even from some Republicans, such as Senator John McCain of Arizona, who questioned why the president would believe of a former KGB agent over his own intelligence agencies. Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, a Trump appointee, also reiterated that the agency stood behind its initial finding that Russia interfered.

Trump, who often sidesteps direct questions on Russia’s culpability, said Sunday that all he meant was that Putin himself clearly believed that to be the case despite a US intelligence assessment to the contrary. At the same, Trump said that initial reports saying 17 agencies concurred in the assessment turned out to be false, and that it was only four agencies.

“As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies,” said Trump in Hanoi. He said he didn’t want to “stand and start arguing” the point with Putin during their meeting, adding that it was “very important” to get along with Russia, China and other countries to address global problems. “What he believes is what he believes,” Trump said of Putin.

“What I believe is that we have to get to work. And I think everybody understood this that heard the answer. We have to get to work to solve Syria, to solve North Korea, to solve Ukraine, to solve terrorism.”

The Kremlin said on Sunday that inflexibility on the part of the United States was to blame for the lack of a bilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin and Trump during a summit in Vietnam.