Trump Backs Intel Agencies After Saying He Believes Putin on Russian Meddling

President Donald Trump on Sunday walked back his comments in which he suggested he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials on election meddling over the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. “As to whether I believe it or not, I’m with our agencies, especially as currently constituted,” Trump said at a press conference alongside the Vietnamese president, making a clear distinction between the current and past leaders of those agencies. “As currently led, by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.” Trump came under scrutiny for saying of Putin’s denials, “I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.”