'Russia poses threat': White House refutes Trump

'Russia poses threat': White House refutes Trump
The White House has refuted Trump's response to reporters when asked if Russia is still targeting the US, saying that the country still poses a threat to the country.
1 min read
18 July, 2018
US President Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Russian President Putin [Getty]

The White House said Wednesday that Russia continues to pose a threat to the US electoral system, just hours after President Donald Trump appeared to dismiss the threat.

"We believe the threat still exists, which is why we are taking steps to prevent it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

Earlier Wednesday at a cabinet meeting, Trump replied "no" when asked by reporters whether Russia was still targeting the US.

That assertion would contradict the assessment of US intelligence chief Dan Coats, who said on Monday that Russia's interference was "ongoing."

But Sanders said Trump was only saying "no" to further questions from reporters and not in response to the question on Russia.

Russia and the US appeared to have agreed a deal to secure the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights frontier with Syria for Israel, following a meeting between leaders of the two countries on Monday in the Finnish capital.

Putin said his controversial summit meeting was "very successful".

Many analysts have criticised Trump's meeting with Russia's head, as European allies have recently clashed with Moscow on a number of issues.