The fear that aides of U.S. President Donald trump have about what the billionaire will say on his second overseas trip as president appears to have some basis. Trump, in a news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda, admitted Russia was likely behind the hacking of the 2016 U.S. election, describing Russia as "aggressive" and "destabilizing".
His admission comes at a time that special counsel Robert Mueller is leading a team of 15 lawyers that is investigating the Russian meddling. Trump, however, said he believes it is not just Russia that interfered but also people from other countries.
Confusing answer
Instead of clarifying, the president, who was asked for a “yes” or “no” reply, added to the confusion because he said nobody really knows. His reply went against reports from U.S. intelligence agencies that the interference came from Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin having a direct hand in the meddling, The New York Times reported.
Trump cited serious mistakes in the past made by U.S. intelligence agencies to justify his answer. Among the mistakes were their assessment that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. The president added that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, knew of the Russian interference but did not do anything because he allegedly believed Trump’s rival, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, would win the election, The Associated Press reported.
Trump continues slamming CNN
Even if his Twitter behavior had been described as unpresidential, Trump continued to rant against CNN which he insisted is a purveyor of fake news. He even defended his tweeting a fake wrestling video of himself slamming a person whose head was covered with the CNN logo.
The real estate mogul insisted that CNN has been publishing fake news for a long time and the network has been covering him in a dishonest way.
It seems that Duda, too, has an ax to grind against Polish journalists whom the Polish president claimed distorted his record and for excluding his position in news stories that are critical of his government.
Trump’s criticism of media did not end with CNN. He also spoke against NBC which used to air his reality show “The Apprentice.” He accused NBC of being nearly as bad as CNN even if the network earned a lot of money from his reality show.
After the news conference, Trump delivered a speech at the Krasinski Square in Warsaw where he urged the Polish people to stand united against shared enemies “to strip them of their territory, their funding, their networks, and any form of ideological support.”
