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11/14/17

USA: Donald Trump insists Vladimir Putin was telling the truth in denying Russian meddling in US election - by K. DeYoung, A. Parker, D.Nakamura

Donald Trump: He is telling me the truth, can't you see he loves me
President Donald Trump said that President Vladimir Putin had assured him again Saturday that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 presidential campaign, and indicated that he believed Putin's sincerity, drawing immediate criticism from lawmakers and former intelligence officials who assessed that the meddling took place.

“I asked him again,” Trump said after what he described as several brief, informal chats with Putin in Danang, Vietnam, where they were attending a regional conference. “You can only ask so many times... He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.

“I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it... I think he's very insulted, if you want to know the truth,” Trump told reporters travelling with him aboard Air Force One from Danang to Hanoi, on the ninth day of a long Asia tour. Trump voiced similar conclusions after his only previous meeting with Putin, last July in Germany.

Trump's response to questions about his conversations with Putin was a jarring return to the more insular preoccupations of Washington after more than a week of what has been a trip filled with pageantry and pledges of mutual admiration, but few substantive outcomes, between Trump and Asian leaders.

Trump suggested that what he called the “artificial Democratic hit job” of investigations of possible collusion between his campaign and Russia were somehow preventing US-Russia cooperation on a range of issues, including North Korea. “It's a shame,” he said, “because people will die because of it.”

In his own news conference after their talks, Putin said he knew “absolutely nothing” about Russian contacts with Trump campaign officials, and called reports that a campaign official met with his niece “bollocks,” according to an interpreter.

Read more: Donald Trump insists Vladimir Putin was telling the truth in denying Russian meddling in US election | The Independent

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