After siding with Putin over U.S. intelligence, Trump insists he has 'GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people'

Responding to fierce criticism from both sides of the aisle regarding his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump said he hopes we can all just move on from this whole election-meddling thing.

In a Monday tweet, Trump said "we cannot exclusively focus on the past" when it comes to building "a brighter future" in U.S.-Russia relations.

"I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people," wrote Trump, pointedly pulling out the one bit of his press conference comments that resembled slight criticism of Russia. When asked whether he believed the intelligence community over Putin's denials of interference, Trump dodged, saying, "I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia that meddled.

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Trump's emphasized trust in intelligence officials, who are quite positive that Russia interfered in the election, flew in the face of his own comments. Just moments later, he lauded Putin's "strong and powerful" denial of wrongdoing.

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Summer Meza, The Week US

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.