President Trump denied Thursday that he had any knowledge of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort sharing polling data with Russian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik. “I didn’t know anything about that,” Trump said. The possibility that Manafort shared the polling data with Kilimnik, who allegedly had ties to a Russian intelligence service, was revealed on Tuesday when Manafort’s lawyers failed to properly redact a court filing on their client’s behalf. While speaking to reporters Thursday morning, Trump also attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), saying that China was “more honorable” than the top-ranking Democrats in negotiations. He also backtracked on his infamous “Mexico will pay for the wall” claim, arguing that “Obviously, I never said this and I never meant they’re going to write out a check. I said they’re going to pay for it. They are,” he said. Finally, he addressed growing rumors that he would declare a national emergency to fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border if he doesn’t reach an agreement with Democrats: “If this doesn’t work out, I probably will do it, maybe definitely,” he said.
