Trump claims he 'misspoke' about Russian meddling in US election during summit with Putin

In a major U-turn, US President Donald Trump today said he accepts US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and misspoke when he seemed to say otherwise in a press conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

Trump's remarks came after he faced a barrage of criticism from his opponents and even from his own party for not backing the American intelligence community's assessment.

Trump, making what he described as clarifying comments in a meeting with members of Congress, said he meant to say during the Helsinki press conference that he had no reason to think it was anyone other than Russia that interfered in the 2016 election.

Trump said he reviewed a transcript of what he said, and decided to clarify his comments.

He told reporters at the White House that he "believes (in) US Intelligence assessment (that Russian) interference (in elections) took place."