WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Tuesday he accepts the conclusion that Russia sought to influence the 2016 US election, attempting to quell a firestorm over his failure to challenge Vladimir Putin a day earlier.
"I have felt very strongly that while Russia's actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that -- and I've said this many times -- I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place," Trump said at the White House.
Trump also claimed he misspoke when he told a joint news conference in Helsinki that he did not "see any reason why it would be" Russia that meddled in the vote, appearing to take Putin's word over that of his own intelligence agencies.