Washington: President Donald Trump has again contradicted US intelligence agencies, saying that Russia was not still targeting the United States, and accusing his critics of being deranged.

The day after he tried to quiet a political uproar over his failure to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Helsinki summit for Moscow's 2016 election meddling, Trump adopted his usual defiant posture and dismissed assessments of Russia from the intelligence community.

"We're doing very well, probably as well as anybody has ever done with Russia. And there's been no president ever as tough as I have been on Russia," Trump said before a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin "understands it and he's not happy about it."

Asked by reporters whether Russia was still targeting the United States, Trump shook his head and said, "No."