President Donald Trump would not say definitively Thursday that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and said people’s confidence about the claim is similar to when the Bush administration said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
“I think it was Russia, and I think it could’ve been other people,” Trump said at a press conference in Poland. “Nobody really knows for sure.”
The Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation all concluded in a January report that Russia sought to undermine Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
“I remember when I was sitting back listening about Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction. How everybody was 100 percent sure that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction,” Trump said. “Guess what? That led to one big mess. They were wrong, and it led to a mess.”
The CIA had claimed Iraq had a stockpile of WMDs, however, former President George W. Bush would eventually conclude in his book “Decision Points,” that he “had sent American troops into combat based in large part on intelligence that proved false.”
President Trump made a similar comment in December when he said, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.”
WATCH:
1. Given chance to blame Russia for election meddling, Trump wavers. “It could’ve been other people…it’s been happening for a long time.” pic.twitter.com/G9IPX91wvr
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) July 6, 2017
2. In Russia remarks, Trump appears angrier with Obama’s response than Putin’s meddling. “Why did Obama do nothing about it?” he repeats. pic.twitter.com/zqF4hOaHei
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) July 6, 2017