(CNN) Just hours removed from attempting to clean up his disastrous performance beside Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday in Helsinki, President Donald Trump took to Twitter Wednesday morning to make a startling claim: Smart people recognized that the summit -- and the press conference that followed it — was actually a massive win for him (and the United States).

"So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki," Trump tweeted. "Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!"

Let's break this down.

On the most basic level, Trump appears to be re-defending comments he made in the news conference with Putin that he spent Tuesday trying to get out from under. "I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place -- could be other people also," Trump said on Tuesday in an attempt to get beyond the chaos he created by saying that both sides deserved blame in Russian election interference in 2016 — even though Trump also seems to believe it's not entirely clear that Russia actually was the lone actor meddling in the last presidential campaign. (If you are confused by that, you are not alone. In the words of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski: "This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's.")

Trump's tweet on Wednesday affirms the fact that he doesn't really think he said anything wrong with Putin. What Trump and his administration are trying to do is present the whole thing as one big mix-up -- when the President said "I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia meddling in the election, what he really meant to say was "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be." Explained Trump: "In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.'"

The problem with that explanation is that belies both a) everything else Trump said in his press conference with Putin and b) his tweet on Wednesday that appears to walk back the walk-back.

On the first point, Trump's would-vs.-wouldn't issue was far from the only dicey thing he said while standing next to Putin. "I hold both countries responsible," Trump said in response to a question from the American press about Russia's interference. "I think that the United States has been foolish. We've all been foolish. We're all to blame." Later, Trump said that when he raised the election interference issue with Putin, the Russian president was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial." So we have to believe him then, right?

Trump's Putin news conference wasn't about a single misspoken word. It was about a broad refusal by the President of the United States to blame Russia for seeking to interfere in an American election -- a conclusion that the entire US intelligence community, not to mention the Senate Intelligence Committee, has drawn.

Which brings me to Trump's Wednesday tweet. And the super-strange assertion that the only reason people are saying it didn't go well is because they aren't smart enough to understand what he was up to. (Ignore, because you have no choice, that Trump sought Tuesday to fix the mistakes he made in that press conference. Trying to follow the linear internal logic of the Trump administration on this issue is a surefire way to make your head explode.)

"So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki," Trump wrote. I thought for a moment he might be talking about the "higher ends" of the intelligence community, but upon reading and re-reading I truly believe he is talking about smart people. As in: If you think that Putin press conference went poorly, it's just that you are too dumb to get what was really going on.

Trump has long been obsessed with intelligence (he went to Wharton, you know!) and IQ as a sort of stand-in for success or quality in people. And he and his campaign/administration (and his supporters) have regularly made the argument that Trump is playing three-dimensional chess while his opponents -- and they include the media in that group -- are playing checkers. He's running circles around you! Trump allies tweet at me every day. You are just too dumb/biased/obtuse/ignorant to get it! He's a genius!

Whether or not Trump is truly brilliant is up for debate -- I tend to think he is bright but maybe short of technical "genius" status -- but what is not really up for argument is that he has some master blueprint for his administration that he is executing against as President. As I've argued repeatedly, there's lots more evidence that Trump is playing zero-dimensional chess than that he is playing three-dimensional chess.

And so, it seems more likely that Trump's wink and a nod to the "higher ends of intelligence" -- smart people, you know what I'm saying [wink, nudge nudge] -- is just a self-defense mechanism for a man who was legitimately surprised (and furious) at the negative reviews his press conference with Putin received.

Because Trump can never really admit fault, and even when he does it's because he misspoke rather than any sort of broader misstatement or misunderstanding, he retreats to the age-old defense: "You just didn't get it!" (Sidebar: I do the same thing every time one of my jokes falls flat in the office.)

The truth is that anyone paying attention over these last 48 hours knows that what Trump is trying to sell -- I misspoke, but then I was right anyway, and the bigger point is anyone who doesn't understand is stupid -- doesn't fly. Or even come close.