Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Thursday that President Trump held up nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine because he wanted an investigation into the hacked Democratic National Committee’s server during the 2016 election.

“The look-back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation,” Mulvaney said during a news conference at the White House, adding that it was “absolutely appropriate.”

“Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption that related to the DNC server? Absolutely. No question about that. That’s why we held up the money,” he said.

Trump has claimed that the DNC servers hacked by the Russians during the 2016 presidential election have been stashed in Ukraine, suggesting Ukraine and not Russia was behind the cyber espionage.

Democrats insist that Trump’s use of the phrase, “I would like you to do us a favor, though,” in his July 25 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump also mentioned former Vice ­President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian gas company, is proof of a quid pro quo.

Mulvaney dismissed those assertions, saying that’s how Trump negotiates with foreign leaders.

“Get over it,” he said. “There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy.”

“That is going to happen,” he continued. “Elections have consequences.”

He said Trump doesn’t like the idea of sending US dollars to corrupt governments so crooked officials can just pocket the cash.

“President Trump is not a big fan of foreign aid. Never has been, still isn’t. He doesn’t like spending money overseas, especially when it’s poorly spent. And that is exactly what drove this decision,” he said.

He said pausing the aid that Ukraine needs to fight pro-Russian insurgents in the east had “absolutely” nothing to do with Trump’s request to look into Joe and Hunter Biden.

“I was involved with the process by which the money was held up temporarily, OK?” said Mulvaney, who also serves as the director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“Three issues for that. The corruption in the country, whether or not other countries were participating in the support of the Ukraine, and whether or not they were cooperating in an ongoing investigation with our Department of Justice. That’s completely legitimate,” he said.

Mulvaney later in the day tried to walk back his statement, saying the “media has decided to misconstrue my comments,” adding “the president never told me to withhold any money until the Ukranians did anything related to the server. The only reasons we were holding the money was because of concern about lack of support from other nations and concerns over corruption.”

Democratic lawmakers Thursday claimed that Mulvaney’s admission of delaying the aid is evidence of a quid pro quo.

“I think Mr. Mulvaney’s acknowledgment means that things have gone from very very bad to much much worse,” said House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, who’s playing a key role in the impeachment inquiry.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) said Mulvaney “co-signed” Trump’s “confession to a crime.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched the impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower’s complaint revealed the phone call between Trump and ­Zelensky.

With Wires