Donald Trump reverses two days in a row

Donald Trump has finally blamed Russia’s Vladimir Putin for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election.

Donald and Melania Trump return to the White House in Washington. Picture: AP

Donald Trump has finally blamed Russia’s Vladimir Putin for interfering in the 2016 US election but only after appearing to claim that Moscow was no longer targeting the US.

In another day of confusion over what the President actually thinks of Russia, the White House tried to defuse another controversy after the US President was asked whether he believed Russia was still targeting the US.

“Thank you very much, no,” Mr Trump replied. The reporter then asked “no, you don’t believe that to be the case,?” and he again replied “no”. That comment, which ­directly contradicts the views of US intelligence agencies, was widely reported across the American media and led to rebukes of the President by Republicans.

Hours later White House press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed Mr Trump was saying no only to ­answering more questions. “The President said ‘thank you very much’ and was saying ‘no’ to answering questions,’ she said. “The President and his administration are working very hard to make sure that Russia is unable to meddle as they have done in the past.”

The latest confusion added to a nightmare week for the President in which he has been under fierce attack from both sides of politics in Washington for his appeasement of Russian President Vladimir Putin after their Helsinki summit.

As he struggled to contain the latest controversy yesterday, Mr Trump conducted a prime time TV interview in which he belatedly adopted a more strident tone against Mr Putin and Russia.

Asked if he would consider Mr Putin responsible for the election interference, the President said: “I would because he’s in charge of the country just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country.

“So certainly as the leader of the country you would have to hold him responsible.”

Mr Trump said he didn’t want to say whether or not Mr Putin had lied to him. “I can only say that I do have confidence in our intelligence agencies as currently constituted,” he said.

Mr Trump also claimed to have made a more robust challenge to Mr Putin on interference during their Helsinki summit than he had previously disclosed.

“I let him know we can’t have this. We’re not going to have it. And that’s the way it’s going to be,” Mr Trump said, describing his words as “very strong”.

This came only a day after Mr Trump was forced to retreat on claims that he didn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the US election. In that instance, the President was subjected to fierce criticism across party lines and ultimately blamed the furore on him misspeaking — an explanation widely dismissed by his critics.

Last week the Director of ­National Intelligence Dan Coats said specifically that Russia was still actively targeting the US and that “the warning lights were blinking red”. “These actions are persistent. They’re pervasive, and they are meant to undermine America’s democracy on a daily basis, regardless of whether it is election time or not,” he said.

Mr Coats said Moscow was targeting US businesses and government and he expressed concern about attacks on US finance systems and infrastructure.

US intelligence is gravely concerned that Moscow will seek to interfere in the November midterm congressional elections in the same way as it interfered in the 2016 president campaign.

Mr Trump’s soft rhetoric on Russia is sharply at odds with congress, which has progressively tightened sanctions on Russia during the past 12 months. But earlier yesterday Mr Trump claimed that “no president ever as tough as I have been on Russia”.

He also tweeted: “People HATE the fact I get on well with President Putin of Russia. They would rather go to war than see this. Its called Trump Derangement Syndrome”.

“So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in ­Helsinki … we got on well which truly bothered many haters.”

Before Mrs Sanders clarification, Republican senator Lindsey Graham said on Twitter there was a ‘BIG discrepancy’ between there president’s comments and those of his intelligence chief.

“It’s imperative we get to the bottom of what is going on so we can be prepared to protect ourselves in advance of the 2018 elections,” he said. “My personal view: the Russians are at again.”

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia