A day after US President Donald Trump refused to blame Russia for meddling in the 2016 US elections, Trump on Tuesday said he accepts US intelligence agencies' reports claiming Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Trump said he had misspoken earlier when he had said "I don't see any reason why it would" or why Russia would interfere in the US elections.
Responding to a question onMonday on whether he believed USintelligence agencies'reports which concluded that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, Trump had said he was not convinced it was Moscow.
Trump had said,"I don't see any reason why it would, President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."
Clarifying his stance on Tuesday, the US President said he responded to the question by using the word "would" instead of "wouldn't".
He said the sentence should have been, "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't, or why it wouldn't be Russia."
Trump's denial at a joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki stirred awave of condemnationin the United States, inviting criticism from within his own Republican Party as well.
(With inputs from Reuters)