President Donald Trump said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States would not tolerate any interference in the elections.
“I let him know we can’t have this, we’re not going to have it, and that’s the way it’s going to be,” Trump said in an interview with CBS anchor Jeff Glor, insisting that he was “very strong” in his delivery.
When Glor asked him if Putin was personally responsible for the hacking attempts, Trump agreed.
“[H]e’s in charge of the country,” Trump said. “Just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So certainly as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes.”
Trump assured viewers that he agreed that Russia “meddled” in the 2016 presidential election.
“I have said that numerous times before, and I would say that is true,” he said.
Trump blamed Obama for failing to send a strong message to Putin through one of the Russian president’s friends, adding that it was “not acceptable.”
“President Obama supposedly made a strong statement – nobody heard it,” he said. “That statement was not acceptable. Didn’t get very much play relatively speaking.”
In December 2017, Obama said that he told Putin to “cut it out” on election interference.
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