At a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, President Donald Trump commented on his son's controversial meeting with a Russian attorney in June 2016. Trump said most people would have taken that meeting.



"I do think this," Trump said Thursday. "I think from a practical standpoint most people would've taken that meeting. It's called opposition research, or even research into your opponent. I've had many people -- I have only been in politics for two years, but I've had many people call up, 'Oh gee, we have information on this factor or this person or, frankly, Hillary.'"





QUESTION: Thank you. Merci, Mr. President.



Mr. President, your FBI nominee said if someone in a campaign got an e-mail about Russia like the one that your son Don Jr. received, that they should alert the FBI, rather than accept that meeting. Is he wrong?



Also, were you misled by your team in not knowing about this meeting?



Mr. President, thank you very much.



You have heard President Trump say that it may have been Russia, it may have been others who interfered with the U.S. election. Is President Trump taking a hard enough line on Russia, as you see it?



Merci.



TRUMP: Well, I'll start off by saying, first of all, I believe that we will have a great FBI director. I think he's doing really well. And we're very proud of that choice. I think I've done a great service to the country by choosing him. He -- he will make us all proud, and I think someday we'll see that, and hopefully someday soon. So, we're very proud of him.



As far as my son is concerned, my son is a wonderful young man. He took a meeting with a Russian lawyer. Not a government lawyer, but a Russian lawyer. It was a short meeting. It was a meeting that went very, very quickly, very fast. Two other people in the room, they -- I guess one of them left almost immediately and the other one was not really focused on the meeting.



I do think this. I think from a practical standpoint most people would've taken that meeting. It's called opposition research, or even research into your opponent. I've had many people -- I have only been in politics for two years, but I've had many people call up, "Oh gee, we have information on this factor or this person or, frankly, Hillary."

Watch the full press conference: