7:38 a.m. ET, February 25, 2020
Trump won't say whether he believes intelligence about Russian meddling
From CNN's Kevin Liptak in New Delhi
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, February 25, in New Delhi.
Alex Brandon/AP
President Donald Trump declined to say Tuesday whether he believes US intelligence assessments that Russia is attempting to meddle in the 2020 presidential election.
Asked directly whether he believes that intelligence, and what his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin might be, Trump instead turned to reports about Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Trump said he was never briefed on intelligence showing Russian preference for Sanders.
They never told me anything about that," Trump said, "it was sort of a strange thing that they went to Bernie."
And he claimed, without evidence, that leaks about intelligence related to Russia were coming from House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff.
"If they don’t stop it, I can’t imagine that people won’t go after them," Trump said.