President Trump gave equivocating comments on Russia’s involvement in 2016 election meddling and questioned the competency of U.S. intelligence agencies Thursday in a move experts fear could hinder his relationships with America’s clandestine services, as well as international allies.

"I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries,” Trump said about reported election interference Thursday, during a stop in Poland on the way to the Group of 20 meetings in Germany.

“I see nothing wrong with that statement," he continued. "Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure."

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The United States intelligence community, the FBI, many U.S. allies and competing private cybersecurity experts that examined the evidence found on Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers nearly unanimously agree that Russia was the sole perpetrator behind the attacks, which included the publication of private DNC emails.

Later in his remarks, Trump said to take the intelligence community's position with a grain of salt, citing faulty intelligence leading to the war in Iraq.

"I remember when I was sitting back listening about Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, how everybody was 100 percent certain that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Guess what? That led to one big mess. They were wrong, and it led to a mess.”

Trump has taken a variety of positions on Russian involvement in the election-season hacks, ranging from acknowledging, “I think Russia did it,” during a news conference in January to later claiming Democrats had fabricated the hacking scandal as a false-flag operation.

Robert Deitz, a former senior councilor to the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, expressed concern that Trump’s statements might hurt the intelligence community’s morale.

“For any of us, it’s somewhat upsetting when you’re working hard that they’re not taking your work seriously,” said Deitz, who is currently a professor at George Mason University.

He posited that Trump’s uncertainty about Russia’s role in the election meddling was likely met “with a collective eye roll” by international intelligence agencies.

Peter Singer, strategist at the non-partisan New America think tank, said Trump’s doubt in both the work of the United States intelligence community and the identical findings from U.S. allies would likely diminish international intelligence cooperation.

Trump’s latest statement on Russia comes at a critical time in Europe, with a string of upcoming elections including an upcoming contest for chancellor of Germany. It’s a period in which the U.S. might want to demonstrate its allegiance to allies.

“If the response to a major global cyber attack is to be in denial and ignore overwhelming evidence, all you are doing is sending a signal of reward to the attackers,” Singer said.

“It is impossible to say that cybersecurity is a priority and maintain this belief,” he added.

Trump’s stance also puts at risk hopes of cooperation between the public and private sector on cybersecurity, given that the private sector overwhelmingly came to the same conclusion as U.S. intelligence that Russia spearheaded the attacks.

Trump’s statement seems to suggest three contradictory things.

“Just try changing the nouns in that statement,” Singer said. “ 'I think the Warriors won the NBA championship, but it could have been a few other teams and or players.’ ”

“There’s no question there is something wrong with that statement,” he continued, following on Trump's comment that he saw "nothing wrong with [his own] statement."

The potential pitfalls go beyond Trump’s relationships with public servants and allies. The administration has banked on private-sector assistance to develop technology modernization strategies through its new American Technology Council, in addition to the services the private sector already provided. And the private sector is heavily involved in cybersecurity, from assisting in forensic work to providing security wares.

“The statement will signal to companies that aid the government [that] the president is not taking any of it seriously,” said Laura Galante, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative and the former director of global intelligence at FireEye.

FireEye was one of a number of private firms that adamantly believed Russia was behind the attacks during the campaign, based on publicly released evidence.

Trump is “not just in a minority anymore,” with his take on Russia, Galante said. “He’s in an extreme minority. The people who study this field are not just strongly convinced, but in complete clarity.”