10:36 p.m. ET, July 18, 2018
A timeline of Trump's remarks about Russian election meddling over the past 54 hours
President Donald Trump and his White House staff, facing an
onslaught of bipartisan fury over his glowing remarks about Vladimir Putin, have been forced to walk-back, clarify, and outright deny remarks Trump made that have cast doubt on his belief in US intelligence agencies' findings that the Russians did in fact meddle in the US election.
Confused? You're not alone. Here's a short timeline of what's been said:
Monday, 11:50 a.m. ET: During Monday's news conference, Trump
sided with Putin over US intelligence, saying, "My people came to me -- Dan Coats came to me and some others -- they said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be." Moments later, he added, "I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."
Monday, 3:40 p.m. ET: Trump
tweeted, "As I said today and many times before, 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people.' However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past – as the world’s two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!"
Tuesday, 2:30 p.m. ET: Facing a
growing backlash upon returning to Washington, D.C., Trump said that he "realized there is some need for clarification" about his remarks on Russian interference in the 2016 US election. "In a key sentence in my remarks I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.'" He explained he had reviewed a transcript and video of his remarks. "The sentence should have been: 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia'," he said. Sort of a double negative."
Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. ET: Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump was
asked by a reporter if Russia was still targeting the US. "No," he responded, looking directly at the reporter.
Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. ET: Asked about the comment later, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the President was
declining to answer shouted questions when he said "no," and not disputing intelligence findings. "The President said 'thank you very much' and said no to answering questions," Sanders said.
Wednesday, 5 p.m. ET: President Trump said he holds his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
personally responsible for Moscow's attempts to interfere in the 2016 US election. In an interview with CBS News anchor Jeff Glor, Trump said Putin was culpable as Russia's leader. "I would because he’s in charge of the country just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country," Trump said. "So certainly as the leader of the country you would have to hold him responsible."
Note: An earlier version of the above graphic featured incorrect dates and shortened quotes. The graphic has been corrected.