‘What am I gonna do? He may deny it’: Trump says he’ll bring up election meddling with Putin

‘What am I gonna do? He may deny it’: Trump tells the press he’ll raise their ‘favorite question’ by bringing up election meddling with Putin

  • President Donald Trump told reporters at NATO he will ask Vladimir Putin about election meddling
  • Trump meets Putin in Helsinki on Monday
  • He said Putin ‘may deny it’
  • Said he would tell him: ‘Don’t do it again’
  • The Intelligence Community concluded Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election 

President Donald Trump said he would once again raise the sensitive issue of election meddling with Russian President Vladimir Putin – then predicted his counterpart ‘may deny it.’

Trump brought up his upcoming Helsinki summit with Putin as he took reporters questions at the NATO summit in Brussels.

But he took a fatalistic attitude about what might happen.    

‘What am I gonna do? He may deny it,’ Trump said. 

Trump said he would bring up election meddling once again when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin

‘It’s one of those things. All I can say is: “Did you?” And “Don’t do it again,”‘ he said.

‘But he may deny it. You’ll be the first to know,’ he told reporters.

Trump also joked about the topic – which prompted a year-long Russia probe – as ‘your favorite question.’    

‘I think we go into that meeting not looking for so much,’ Trump said. ‘We want to find out about Syria’ as one of the topics, he said.

President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. Putin has denied meddling in the election when Trump raised it before. Trump recently noted Putin's denial on Twitter

President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. Putin has denied meddling in the election when Trump raised it before. Trump recently noted Putin’s denial on Twitter

Trump spoke to reporters minutes before he planned to leave the NATO summit

Trump spoke to reporters minutes before he planned to leave the NATO summit

HE HAS A POINT: Trump predicted Putin 'may deny' meddling in the U.S. presidential election

HE HAS A POINT: Trump predicted Putin ‘may deny’ meddling in the U.S. presidential election

‘We will of course ask your favorite question about meddling,’ Trump said, raising the topic himself. ‘I will be asking that question again. But we’ll obviously be talking about other things.’

He said he viewed Putin as a ‘competitor,’ but not as a ‘friend’ or an ‘enemy.’ 

Trump addressed Russia after clashing with U.S. allies inside the NATO military alliance and demanding allies pay more for ‘protection.’

He continued to criticize Germany over an $11 billion  pipeline deal with Russia.

‘How do you have NATO and then you have somebody paying the people that you’re protecting against?’ Trump asked. ‘But maybe we’ll get along with the people we’re protecting against. I think that’s a real possibility,’ he said.

 

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