‘If Russia still targeting US’, Trump says ‘no’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he does not believe Russia is still targeting the United States, contradicting US intelligence assessments that Moscow was continuing to meddle in American elections. Trump on Tuesday tried to walk back comments that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin over American intelligence chiefs on Russian interference in the 2016 election. Asked on Wednesday if Russia was still targeting the United States, Trump said, “No.”

Trump says no president has been as ‘tough’ on Russia: US President Donald Trump, facing criticism that he failed to hold Russian leader Vladimir Putin to account at their Helsinki summit, claimed on Wednesday that no president has been as “tough” on Russia as he has.

“We’re doing very well, probably as well as anybody has ever done with Russia,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting at the White House. “Look at what we’ve done. Look at sanctions,” he said. “And I think President Putin knows that better than anybody. Certainly a lot better than the media. “He understands it, and he’s not happy about it,” Trump said. “And he shouldn’t be happy about it because there’s never been a president as tough on Russia as I have been.”