Press Conference by Putin and Trump after USA – Russia summit

CNN : US President Donald Trump, in a stunning rebuke of the US intelligence community, declined on Monday to endorse the US government’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying he doesn’t “see any reason why” Russia would be responsible.

Instead, Trump — standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin — touted Putin’s vigorous denial and pivoted to complaining about the Democratic National Committee’s server and missing emails from Hillary Clinton’s personal account.

“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said during a joint news conference following his summit with Putin.

The US President also hailed Putin’s offer for Russian law enforcement officials to interrogate the Russian agents indicted by the special counsel Robert Mueller as “incredible.” Putin had said the offer would be reciprocal.

Trump’s statements amounted to an unprecedented refusal by a US president to believe his own intelligence agencies over the word of a foreign adversary and came after Trump said he holds both the United States and Russia responsible for the breakdown in the relationship between the two countries and railed against the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

“I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. We’ve all been foolish,” Trump said at the news conference in Helsinki, Finland.

“We should have, frankly, had this dialogue a long time ago. I think that we’re all to blame. I think that the United States has now stepped forward along with Russia,” Trump said, adding that he feels that the US and Russia have “both made some mistakes.”