Examining Donald Trump’s presidency holistically, many have come to the conclusion that it’s not so much a question of whether the Russian government has dirt on him, but what kind and how much of it. People believe this for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that Trump has shown Vladimir Putin slobbering deference and respect, while U.S. allies have been described as “foes” who should burn in hell; he’s leaked information about a classified Israeli intelligence operation to two Russian envoys; he exploded with rage when he found out the U.S. had expelled more Russian diplomats than European countries following the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in England; he congratulated Putin on his election victory, against the express directive of senior aides; he assured Russian officials that plans for sanctions announced by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley were bunk; he asked for Russia to be let back into the G7 after it was kicked out for invading another European country; and he’s refused to condemn documented Russian meddling in the 2016 election. For many, the idea that the Kremlin may have kompromat on Trump went from a possibility to a near certainty on Monday, when at a joint press conference in Helsinki, the president of the United States kowtowed to the president of Russia, trashed America, and indicated that he values Putin’s denial re: election meddling over the findings of his own intelligence agencies.

Putin, of course, has outwardly denied everything (though his literal giggle when asked whether Russia has dirt on Trump may have been something of a giveaway). He did so again during a follow-up interview with Chris Wallace, during which the Fox News host raised several theories as to why the 45th president is seemingly scared to cross him. But Putin dodged again, using an excuse that is not very complimentary to our ex-real-estate-developer commander in chief.

“Before he announced that he will run for presidency, [Trump] was of no interest for us . . . He was a rich person, but, well, there’s plenty of rich persons in the United States. He was in the construction business. He organized the beauty pageants. But no, it would never occur to anyone that he would think of running for president.”

It’s a similar line to the one Putin used during yesterday’s presser, wherein he claimed that “When President Trump visited Moscow back then, I didn’t even know that he was in Moscow. I treat President Trump with utmost respect. But back then, when he was a private individual, a businessman, nobody informed me that he was in Moscow.” He added that there were simply too many foreign businessmen visiting Russia for him to possibly keep track of: “Let’s take St. Petersburg economic forum, for instance. There were over 500 American businessmen—the high ranking, the high-level ones. I don’t even remember the last names of each and every one of them. Do you think that we tried to collect compromising material on each and every single one of them?”

It’s the sort of flimsy response that few are likely to believe—publicist Rob Goldstone, who arranged a June Trump Tower meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer, has testified that people in Putin’s circle, at the very least, were aware of Trump’s presence during that potentially fateful weekend. But it’s also the sort of excuse that President Twitter, who has spent much of his adult life claiming to be a “Star . . . (just kidding, of course)!” is not likely to be enthused about. And yet, even here Trump has proven unusually hesitant to contradict his Russian B.F.F. “He said there were many, many businesspeople there,” Trump told Sean Hannity Monday night. “In all fairness, I was a very successful businessman, but I was one of a lot of people.” We repeat: not whether, but how much.