White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said President Donald Trump doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that Russia didn’t meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
“The president absolutely did not believe the denial of President Putin,” he said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”
Trump took to social media Sunday morning after having met with Putin for the first time face-to-face on Friday, telling his follower he brought up the issue during their discussion.
I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
Priebus argued Trump addressed the issue accordingly during their meeting, which lasted over two hours.
“What the president did is he immediately came into the meeting and talked about Russian meddling in the U.S. election,” he said. “This was not just a five-minute piece of the conversation. This was an extensive portion of the meeting.”
Trump said he and Putin “negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria,” and it “is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!” Priebus said Trump’s decision to improve Russian relations does not mean there won’t be consequences for meddling in the election.
“He believes that Russia probably committed all of these acts that we’ve been told of, but he also believes others have [as well],” he continued. “It doesn’t mean they’re off the hook … You can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
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