President Trump doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 election, despite the fact that Trump touted Putin’s statement in a series of tweets Sunday, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said Sunday.
“The president absolutely did not believe the denial of President Putin,” Priebus told “Fox News Sunday.”
Priebus added, “He said they probably meddled in the election. They did meddle in the election.”
Trump tweeted Sunday morning Putin vehemently denied interfering in the 2016 presidential election when Trump asked him about the issue during the G-20 conference in Hamburg, Germany. The two met face-to-face for the first time last week.
Priebus was not among the American delegation that went into the meeting with Trump on Friday. He said the meeting about the 2016 election lasted about 20 minutes.
On ABC Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it wouldn’t make sense for Trump to say publicly if he actually believed Putin’s denial. That interview aired at about the same time as Priebus’ declarative statement that Trump doesn’t believe Putin.
Earlier Sunday, Trump tweeted, “I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion. We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!”
While the American intelligence community believes Russia interfered in the election and worked in favor of Trump, the president has repeatedly called the reports a “hoax” invented by Democrats to excuse Hillary Clinton’s loss in the election.
