Trump accepts Putin's denials of election meddling, prompting outrage from Congress

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump accepts Russia's denial of 2016 election meddling U.S. lawmakers are criticizing President Trump, saying he missed an opportunity to hold Russia accountable for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

HELSINKI – President Donald Trump accepted denials by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow interfered with the 2016 U.S. election Monday, bringing swift condemnation from members of Congress from both parties.

After meeting privately with Putin for two hours in Helsinki, Trump said he held both the United States and Russia responsible for the deterioration in relations between the two countries. "I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we've all been foolish," he said.

Trump also declined to challenge Putin's insistence that his country did not meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, even though U.S. intelligence agencies under two administrations and the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that Moscow sought to skew the election toward Trump.

"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," Trump told a joint news conference with the Russian president.

"I have President Putin; he just said it's not Russia," Trump said. "I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."

Trump's embrace of Putin came on the last day of a weeklong European trip in which he berated NATO allies over their defense spending and undercut British Prime Minister Theresa May in the tabloids.

His handling of the Putin meeting drew scathing reactions from lawmakers.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Trump had made the United States look like "a pushover" and said the president's remarks "saddened" him. Corker added that he thought Putin was likely celebrating the outcome of the meeting.

“I would guess he’s having caviar right now,” said Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., described the meeting in Helsinki as a "tragic mistake."

“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,“ said McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin."

More: Intelligence chief Dan Coats counters Trump: 'We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling'

More: European lawmakers: 'We're not on our own,' despite Trump's siding with Putin

On Friday, the Justice Department laid out details of what it said was a far-reaching hacking scheme in an indictment of 12 Russian agents whom it accused of trying to undermine the U.S. election.

Putin told reporters through a translator that he was glad that Trump had defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election but said Moscow would "never interfere in internal American affairs."

Trump's refusal to challenge Putin's denials of election meddling prompted an unusual response from the president's own director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, who reasserted his belief that Moscow attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

"We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling," Coats said in a statement.

Lawmakers had urged Trump to press for the extradition of the 12 Russian intelligence agents named in the indictment but Putin did not commit to doing so.

Putin also suggested that the two countries form a joint working group on cybersecurity that would look into the election issue.

Putin proposed that same plan after they met at a Group of Seven summit in Germany last year. Trump initially supported it, but then reversed himself. Monday, he reversed himself again, calling it an "interesting idea."

Some lawmakers had also called on Trump to reiterate the U.S. position opposing Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Putin said that issue came up during their private meetings, but Trump did not discuss it during the press conference.

As he has done before, Trump attacked the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election interference.

Trump said he ran a clean campaign and beat Clinton soundly in 2016.

“Zero collusion," Trump said. "And it has had a negative impact upon the relationship of the two largest nuclear powers in the world. ... It’s ridiculous what’s going on with the probe.”

More: Trump and Putin hold two-hour, closed-door meeting on trade, nuclear arms and China

More: Republicans blast Trump meeting with Putin as 'shameful' and 'sign of weakness'

More: Analysis: Friends or foes? Trump's embrace of Putin prompts backlash

Contributing: Eliza Collins, Jessica Estepa, Nicole Gaudiano and Kevin Johnson in Washington