Putin and Trump seem to agree there was no Russian interference in 2016 election

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/ABC News)

published 16 July 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin has a message for the Department of Justice: We didn't do it.

The leader definitively slammed accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election — and any election — during a press conference alongside President Trump, following the two men's closed-door meeting Monday. Russia "has never interfered and is not going to interfere into internal American affairs, including election processes," Putin claimed.

That's a slightly different message than the U.S. delivered Friday, when Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe indicted 12 Russian agents on charges related to interference in the election. Trump barely mentioned the charges before Monday's meeting, but revealed during the press conference that the two leaders did at least bring up the subject. Putin apparently "feels very strongly" about election meddling and has an "interesting idea" about it, Trump said.

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Putin and Trump went on to question interference allegations as the conference continued. Putin welcomed Mueller's team to witness Russia's own interrogations of interference suspects, while Trump maintained his ongoing denial of any collusion, notably refusing to caution Putin against potential future interference because he "doesn't see any reason why" Russia would've meddled in the 2016 election anyway.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.