President Trump told reporters Wednesday there can’t be a “scintilla of doubt” when it comes to the integrity of future elections and attempts by foreign governments to interfere.
“We can’t let that happen, and I mean whether it’s Russia or anybody else, we can’t let there be even a scintilla of doubt when it comes to an election,” Trump said. “I mean, I’m very strong on that.”
The president spent roughly 60 minutes answering questions from reporters during the trip on Air Force One to Paris.
The conversation was initially off the record, but the White House communications staff released parts of the question-and-answer session Thursday.
Trump was questioned about his two-hour long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which occurred last week at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
The president confronted Putin about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and asked if the Russian president was involved, which Putin denied.
Four intelligence agencies have concluded Russia was behind the hacks of the Democratic National Committee and other Democratic entities, and launched a sophisticated cyber campaign to spread false and negative stories about Hillary Clinton.
But, Trump has hedged on whether he agrees with the intelligence community about Russia’s role. The president said last week he believes Russia, as well as other countries, meddled in the 2016 election.
Speaking on Air Force One with reporters, the president said there are many countries with hacking abilities, and pointed to the North Korea’s hacking of Sony Pictures as evidence of their capabilities.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t Russia,” Trump said. “What I’m saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is.”
“You have many countries and you have many individuals that are very good at this,” he continued. “But we can’t have — and I did say, we can’t have a scintilla of doubt as our elections and going forward.”
Trump was also asked if he would be open to inviting Putin to the White House, and the president said he would be.
“I would say yes. At the right time. I don’t think this is the right time, but the answer is yes, I would,” he said. “Look, it’s very easy for me to say absolutely, I won’t. That’s the easy thing for me to do, but that’s the stupid thing to do. Let’s be the smart people, not the stupid people.”
The president said his reasoning for inviting Putin, though, has to do with Russia’s stance in the world, and told reporters it’s important to communicate with Russia.
“Folks, we have perhaps the second most powerful nuclear country in the world,” he said. “If you don’t have dialogue, you have to be fools.”
