Should President Trump Believe Russian President Putin's Assurances That Russia Did Not Interfere In The U.S. Election?

Reuters: Trump says he trusts Putin's denials of election meddling

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed President Vladimir Putin when he denied accusations that Russia meddled in last year’s U.S. election after the two met briefly at a summit in Vietnam on Saturday and agreed a statement on Syria.

It was their first encounter since July and came during a low in U.S.-Russia relations and at a time Trump is haunted by an investigation into accusations that Putin influenced the election that brought him to the White House.

Putin reiterated the denials of interference, Trump said.

“Every time he sees me he says I didn’t do that, and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the resort of Danang.

“I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country,” Trump said.

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WNU Editor: I like former President Reagan's rule when it came to dealing with the former Soviet Union .... "trust but verify". In the past this worked, but the problem with this approach today is the verification part .... specifically President Trump not trusting the U.S. intel community on how it goes about making its assessments on Russia. And I can understand why. President Trump wants to trust President Putin .... there is a lot at stake in the world where working and cooperating with Russia is a necessity. But when you have the heads of the U.S. intelligence publicly voice their concerns that you and your campaign are working with Russia to undermine the U.S. electoral process (before you are even inaugurated) and that you learn that key members of your team are under surveillance .... coupled with the FBI Director presenting a dossier that states you hired hookers to pee on a bed that the Obama's slept in when they were in Moscow .... I can understand why President Trump does not trust this community. It also does not help the situation to see someone like the Clintons bank $500,000 speaking fees to talk for an hour in Moscow while having at the same time a donation of $150,000,000 to their Foundation from a consortium of Russians who have just acquired a major U.S. uranium company .... and not a peak from the FBI Director, the intel community, or the Justice Department on what sparked this arranegment. This may look normal and legit to these people .... but from perspective this stinks to high-heaven. Not surprising .... the intel community is pushing back on all of this .... Despite Trump's comments, CIA stands by assessment that Russia meddled in election (USA Today).

More News On President Trump's Remarks That He Believes Russian President Putin Is Sincere That Russia Did Not Interfere In The U.S. Election

Trump: Putin is ‘insulted’ by and denies meddling accusation -- AP
Trump says Putin 'means it' with election meddling denials -- AFP
Trump says Putin DENIED meddling in the 2016 election and was 'insulted' by questions about 'Democratic hit-job' that's stopping Russia from helping de-fang North Korea and affecting 'millions of lives' -- Daily Mail
Trump says he believes Putin's election meddling denials -- CNN
Trump Says Putin Denies Election Meddling and Laments ‘Hit Job’ -- Bloomberg