President Trump said he did not warn Vladimir Putin about meddling in the 2020 election during a phone call on Friday and said the Russian president was not surprised allegations that Moscow colluded with the Trump campaign proved false.
“He sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that, it started off as a mountain and ended up being a mouse,” Trump said of Putin as he recounted details of their discussion of the Mueller report.
“But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever. Pretty much that’s what it was.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House ahead of a meeting with the Slovakian prime minister, Trump was asked whether he had warned Putin against trying to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“We didn’t discuss that,” he said.
In his report, Robert Mueller concluded that Moscow and its intelligence agencies interfered in the 2016 election in “sweeping and systematic” fashion. That included hacking computer servers used by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and a social media effort designed to boost Trump and smear his rival.
Critics of Trump have chastised him for failing to take a tougher line on Putin and not doing more to safeguard future elections.
After their conversation, Trump took to Twitter to once again dismiss what he called the “Russia Hoax.”
“Had a long and very good conversation with President Putin of Russia. As I have always said, long before the Witch Hunt started, getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing,” he wrote. “We discussed Trade, Venezuela, Ukraine, North Korea, Nuclear Arms Control and even the ‘Russian Hoax.’ Very productive talk!”
The two leaders spoke for more than an hour on Friday morning, according to the president’s press secretary, who said they discussed the Mueller report only “very briefly.”
Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, condemned the president with a tweet: “The 2020 campaign is already in full swing and Trump just told Putin, the man behind the most serious cyber attack on our democracy ever, that he believes it was all a hoax.
“Once again, he betrays our national security and for what? Nothing more than his own vanity and delusion.”
