Trump Defends Russia outreach amid US Intel Criticism

TIL Desk World/New York/ US intelligence officials are convinced that Russia meddled in the presidential race. But that hasn’t changed President-elect Donald Trump’s call for warmer relations with Moscow. Trump declared in a series of tweets yesterday that “only ‘stupid’ people or fools” would come to a different conclusion.

“Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing,” he stated from Trump Tower, adding: “We have enough problems without yet another one.” American intelligence officials on Friday briefed the president-elect on their conclusions that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 election in order to help him win the White House.

An unclassified version of the report explicitly tied Russian President Vladimir Putin to election meddling and said that Moscow had a “clear preference” for Trump in his race against Hillary Clinton. Trump has repeatedly sought to downplay the allegations, alarming some who see a pattern of skepticism directed at US intelligence agencies and a willingness to embrace Putin.