Trump says he didn't tell Putin not to meddle in 2020 during their hour-long phone call

President Trump says he did not tell Russian President Vladimir Putin not to meddle in the 2020 election during their hour-long phone call, their first since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Trump spoke to reporters on Friday after the White House said that he and Putin had spent an hour speaking over the phone, discussing a variety of topics including Venezuela. When asked if he told Putin not to meddle in the next election, Trump responded, "We didn't discuss that."

Trump said he did, however, discuss Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report with Putin, who "actually sort of smiled when he said something to the effect that, 'it started off as a mountain and it ended up being a mouse.' But he knew that because he knew there was no collusion whatsoever."

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Mueller's report did not establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia, although it concluded that Trump's campaign expected to "benefit electorally" from stolen information released by Russia. Brendan Morrow