Trump Contradicts Intel Director, Says ‘No’ Russia Isn’t Still Targeting US

US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting on July 18, 2018, at the White House in Washington, DC. - At right is US Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (P... US President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting on July 18, 2018, at the White House in Washington, DC. - At right is US Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Again contradicting his director of national intelligence, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “no,” Russia is not still targeting the United States.

Is Russia still targeting the U.S.?” a reporter asked Trump in the Cabinet Room Wednesday.

“No,” the President replied.

That contradicted a statement his director of national intelligence made just days ago.

“Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack,” DNI Dan Coats said Friday, a few days before Trump met privately with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also on Friday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for the hacking, theft and distribution of Democratic emails during the 2016 election.

The “worst offenders,” Coats said Friday, are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Russia, Coats said, is the “most aggressive foreign actor, no question. And they continue their efforts to undermine our democracy.”

Trump added Wednesday: “We are doing very well, probably as well as anybody as anybody has ever done, with Russia. And there’s been no president ever as tough as I have been on Russia.”

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. And to prove it, he’s canceling cybersecurity. Nothing to worry about. Trump and Putin worked it out in private. We’ll just have to take Trump’s word for it.

  2. We have a commander in chief who refuses to even recognize that we have an enemy, let alone marshal resources to defend against it. What a sad, sad state of affairs.

  3. Mr. Putin tore down that (fire)wall.

  4. The man is nothing if not persistent in his delusion. Does he really think he has any ability to lie on this issue again after his performance in Helsinki?

  5. Why are we surprised!

    Just like Charlotte, he did not believe or want to apologize, and the same for yesterday.

    The countdown clock was running on how long it would take him to reverse his position, again. Not even 24-hours.

    I did(n’t) expect anything different. Did you??

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

162 more replies

Participants

Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for sysprog Avatar for trnc Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for winstonsmith Avatar for irasdad Avatar for inversion Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for alyoshakaramazov1 Avatar for theghostofeustacetilley Avatar for nemo Avatar for katwillow Avatar for darrtown Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for texastwostep Avatar for clauscph Avatar for rickjones Avatar for pike_bishop Avatar for dannysgrandma Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for dominic

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: