Why did Donald Trump ‘side with Russia’ on election meddling?
US president openly questions findings of his own intelligence agencies

Donald Trump has offered an “extraordinary show of trust”, after siding with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s assertion that Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 US presidential election.
At a press conference following a summit between the two leaders in Helsinki, Trump “handed Russian President Vladimir Putin an unalloyed diplomatic triumph”, by refusing to support the collective conclusion of the US intelligence agencies on the issue, the Washington Post says.
“They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia,” Trump said. “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump’s statements “amounted to an unprecedented refusal by a US president to believe his own intelligence agencies over the word of a foreign adversary”, CNN says.
The New York Times says Trump’s comments drew “howls of protests from Democrats and some Republicans”, and prompted John O. Brennan, who served as CIA director under Barack Obama, “to suggest that the remarks warranted Mr. Trump’s impeachment”.
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanours’. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin,” Brennan wrote on Twitter.
Similarly, Republican House Leader Paul Ryan was publicly at odds with Trump’s statements during the Helsinki press conference.
“There is no question that Russia interfered in our election and continues attempts to undermine democracy,” Ryan said in a statement.
The New York Times also reports that “Trump’s mood grew foul as the breadth of the critical reactions became clear” during the Air Force One flight back to Washington, with aides steering clear of the front of the plane “to avoid being tapped for a venting session” with Trump.
Why did Trump take Putin’s side?
In the wake of Trump’s Helsinki appearance, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate, said: “A single, ominous question now hangs over the White House: What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States? Millions of Americans will continue to wonder.”
According to Schumer there is only one possible explanation: “the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over President Trump.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Spending is what card issuers are hoping you will do'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
A potential railway megamerger raises monopoly questions
The Explainer Union-Pacific and Norfolk Southern would create the country's largest railway operator
-
'Spending is what card issuers are hoping you will do'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump executive order targets homeless
Speed Read It will now be easier for states and cities to remove homeless people from the streets
-
Florida judge and DOJ make Epstein trouble for Trump
Speed Read The Trump administration's request to release grand jury transcripts from the Epstein investigation was denied
-
Trump attacks Obama as Epstein furor mounts
Speed Read The Trump administration accused the Obama administration of 'treasonous' behavior during the 2016 election
-
Deportations: The growing backlash
Feature New poll numbers show declining support for Trump's deportation crackdown
-
Is Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' cancellation an omen of something worse?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION CBS said its decision to end the talk show was strictly business. But the timing and nature of the announcement has some observers wondering if there's more at play behind the scenes.
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked again
Feature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Epstein: Why MAGA won't move on
Feature Trump's supporters are turning on him after he denied the existence of Epstein's client list