Trump Now Says He Accepts Evidence of Russian Election Meddling

President Donald Trump backtracked on comments he made following his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he does accept U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

At a joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki on Monday, Trump said that he did not "see any reason why it would be" Russia that meddled in the 2016 election.

However, at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said that he wanted to clarify his comments from the previous day, claiming that he meant to say he didn’t see "any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia" that interfered in the election.

The U.S. president’s comments on Monday drew criticism from within the Republican Party and among law enforcement, diplomatic and intelligence officials in his administration.