President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that he is "very concerned" that Russia will be "pushing very hard" for Democrats in the upcoming midterms, | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump now says Russia is meddling in elections — for Democrats

President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that he is "very concerned" that Russia will be "pushing very hard" for Democrats in the upcoming midterms, contradicting his earlier statement he does not believe Russia is still interfering in U.S. politics and renewing his allegation of potentially rigged elections.

"I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!" the president tweeted.


The tweet follows a week of backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike from the president’s summit with Vladimir Putin, in which he appeared to side with the Russian president over his own intelligence officers on whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 election.

During that same news conference, Putin explicitly stated that he did want Trump to win, which undercuts Trump's Tuesday tweet. Trump also stated last week that he does not believe that Russia is still targeting U.S. elections — a claim the White House later tried to walk back.

The White House is currently taking steps to schedule a second Trump-Putin meeting in Washington D.C. this fall. The Kremlin, however, said Tuesday that Russia hasn't begun preparations for another meeting between Trump and Putin, according to Reuters.

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“There are other options which our leaders can look at,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. He suggested possibly coordinating an event during a G20 meeting in Argentina in November, Reuters reported.

“Maybe there will be other international events which Trump and Putin will take part in," Ushakov said.

Trump has called elections rigged in the past, often saying during the 2016 campaign that the presidential election was rigged in favor of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

The president's tweet Tuesday also appears to be an attempt to manage expectations around Republicans' performance in the midterms, which usually favor the party that is not in control of the White House.