Donald Trump was criticised by Americans on both the right and left when he appeared to side with Vladimir Putin, and not his own intelligence agency, over accusations Russia interfered in the 2016 US election.

Since then, the US President has backtracked on his comments. But according to one long-time Republican strategist, politicians in the party are still horrified.

Here's what Mr Trump said and how his attempt at clarification played out.

Mr Trump made the comments as he stood beside Mr Putin

This is what Mr Trump was asked by a journalist at a press conference following his closed-door one-on-one conversation with Mr Putin in Helsinki, Finland:

Just now, President Putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. Every US intelligence agency has concluded that Russia did... Who do you believe? My second question is, would you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016 and would you warn him to never do it again?

Mr Trump responded by talking about what he called a missing Democratic National Committee server.

Sorry, this video has expired US President Donald Trump says he sees no reason why Russia would interfere in the 2016 election.

Then he said:

"My people came to me, Dan Coats [the director of national intelligence] came to me and some others, they said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia. "I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

Shortly afterwards, Mr Trump added:

"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."

The condemnation was swift — even from his own party

Here's Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:

"The Russians are not our friends and I entirely believe the assessment of our intelligence community."

Here's Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan:

"The President must appreciate that Russia is not our ally."

Here's Republican Senator Jeff Flake:

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And finally, here's Newt Gingrich, one of Mr Trump's closest political allies:

"It's the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected — immediately."

Over 24 hours later, Mr Trump said he had misspoken

Initially, he'd defended his press conference on Twitter:

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But he later corrected one of the comments he'd made.

Sorry, this video has expired "I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'": Trump backtracks on Helsinki comments

When he said he couldn't see how it "would" have been Russia that was responsible for election interference, he says he actually meant to say he couldn't see how it "wouldn't" have been Russia.

"I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place," he said.

However, he also added:

"It could be other people also. A lot of people out there. There was no collusion at all."

Some Republicans accepted Mr Trump's correction

Republican Congressman Garret Graves thanked the President for his comments:

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Republican Senator Rand Paul called Mr Trump's initial remarks "somewhat muddled", but said they'd been clarified:

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And Republican Senator Rob Portman said he was glad the President had clarified his comments.

"I take him at his word if he says he misspoke, absolutely," he said.

However, others still aren't happy

Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo said the damage had been "irreparable":

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And conservative Fox News contributor Guy Benson wasn't buying the explanation:

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Unsurprisingly, the clarification wasn't enough for Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

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Republican strategist says comments haven't gone down well

Rick Wilson, a conservative who has long been critical of Mr Trump, says elected party members are horrified by his latest controversy.

"A lot of them privately and publicly used a muscle that had atrophied and they criticised the President," he told ABC Radio's PM.

However, he said the problem they face is that Mr Trump's base can "destroy them".

"It's sort of a hostage drama for most elected Republicans," he said.

Mr Wilson said as things stand, Republicans will be sticking with Mr Trump as their 2020 presidential candidate despite their differences with their leader.

"They're going to look at the field and they're going to say 'Donald Trump's got 80 per cent approval with the Republican base — why am I going to try to pee on that bonfire?'."

But he said things could still change as a result of the fallout from the ongoing Russia investigation and the Trump Administration's unpopular stances on some key voting issues.