Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he wanted President Trump to win the 2016 election, a comment sure to fuel more scrutiny of Moscow’s meddling efforts.
“Yes, I did, because he was the one who wanted to normalize relations with Russia,” Putin said when asked if he wanted Trump to win.
{mosads}Trump decided to go ahead with his meeting with Putin despite the U.S. indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers who are accused of hacking Democratic entities in 2016.
The U.S. intelligence community has unanimously concluded that Moscow conducted a coordinated effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential race to boost Trump and hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of State for President Obama’s first term.
Trump said Monday he has “great confidence” in the intelligence community but said that Putin was “very powerful” in his denials that Russia was not involved.