White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that President Donald Trump was saying “no” to additional questions from journalists, not “no” to the existence of a threat from Russia when he spoke to the press on Wednesday.
“ I had a chance to speak with the President after his comments and the president was — said thank you very much and was saying no to answering questions,” she told reporters Wednesday. “The President and his administration are working very hard to make sure that Russia is unable to meddle in our elections as they have done in the past and as we have stated.”
On Wednesday, Trump responded “no” to questions from reporters about whether Russia is still targeting the U.S. That response appeared to contradict statements from his intelligence director last week. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Friday that the U.S.’s digital infrastructure was “literally under attack.”
The clarification comes just one day after Trump made a rare correction to his own remarks. He told reporters he meant to say “wouldn’t” not “would” during a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t or why it wouldn’t be Russia,’” he told reporters Tuesday.
