HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday attempted to clear up confusion over whether he accepts Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials of meddling in the U.S. election last year.
At a news conference in Vietnam, Trump distanced himself from remarks he made on Saturday in which he advised he put Putin when he said there had been no meddling in the election that took him to the White House.
The comments had drawn criticism at home because U.S. intelligence agencies have long since concluded there was Russian meddling.
"As to whether I believe it or not, I'm with our agencies, especially as currently constituted," Trump said at a news conference with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang.
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He was careful to make clear with his intelligence agencies under his own leadership.
Former US intelligence director James Clapper had told Reuters: "The Russian issue has clouded Trump's first year in office and his comments on Saturday were a distraction from his five-nation Asian tour.
Trump said he did not think there had been Russian meddling.
"I believe that President Putin really feels, and feels strongly, that he did not meddle in our election," Trump said, while adding: "
] Trump said he was not interested in arguing with North Korea, Syria and Ukraine.
Trump has called allegations of campaign collusion with Moscow a hoax. A special counsel, Robert Mueller, is conducting an investigation that has led to charges against Paul Manafort's Trump's former campaign manager and his associate Rick Gates.
U.S. intelligence agencies have also concluded Russians interrupt through hacking and releasing emails to embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and spreading social media propaganda.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Matthew Tostevin; (19459029) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
