 "Putin Trump")
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he holds his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin personally responsible for the alleged meddling into the 2016 general elections.
On Monday, Trump met Putin in Helsinki, Finland, where he said that he had raised the issue of Russian meddling into the US presidential elections.
"I have said that numerous times before, and I would say that is true, yeah," Trump told CBS news when asked if he agrees with the US intelligence assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 elections.
"But you haven't condemned Putin, specifically. Do you hold him personally responsible?" he was asked.
"Well, I would, because he's in charge of the country. Just like I consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. So certainly as the leader of a country you would have to hold him responsible," Trump said.
On Tuesday, the US President said that he believes in the assessment of his intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in American elections in 2016 and his remarks contrary to this a day earlier in Helsinki was a case of misspeaking.
Earlier, he had faced a barrage of criticism from his opponents and even from his own party for not backing the American intelligence community's assessment during a joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki on Monday.
"Very strong on the fact that we can't have meddling, we can't have any of that now look. We're also living in a grown-up world. Will a strong statement, you know, President (Barack) Obama supposedly made a strong statement nobody heard it."
"What they did hear is a statement he made to Putin's very close friend. And that statement was not acceptable. Didn't get very much play relatively speaking. But that statement was not acceptable. But I let him know we can't have this, we're not going to have it, and that's the way it's going to be," Trump added.
White House says working to ensure Russia does not meddle in US elections
The Trump administration is working to ensure that Russia does not meddle in American elections as it did in the past, the White House said on Thursday.
The US intelligence agencies believe that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential elections won by President Donald Trump. However, Russia has denied the allegations.
The White House believes that the threat from Russia still exists.
"The president and his administration are working very hard to make sure that Russia is unable to meddle in our elections, as they have done in the past, and as we have stated," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily news conference.
"But we certainly believe that we are taking steps to make sure they can't do it again. Unlike the previous administrations, this president is actually taking bold action and reform to make sure it doesn't happen again. But he does believe that they would target, certainly, US elections again," Sanders said.
From the beginning of his administration, Trump has actually taken action to defend US election system from meddling and interference, she said.
In May 2017, Trump signed an executive order to strengthen and review the cybersecurity of the US and its critical infrastructure.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken the lead in working with all the 50 states, local governments and private companies to improve election security.
The DHS has increased coordination among all election partners, 34 states, 52 counties and local governments and five election companies receive cybersecurity scans regularly from the DHS, she said.
The DHS plans to provide on-site risk and vulnerability assessments to all states that request it. So far, 18 states have requested this assessment.
A new pilot programme was launched to increase rapid response capabilities on the Election Day, and in 2017, on-site cybersecurity support was provided.
In March, Congress provided the Election Assistance Commission with $380 million in funding for election assistance grants to states.
"These are steps that we've taken to prevent it from happening. These are steps that we've taken because we see that there's a threat there," Sanders said.
In her first news conference after the Helsinki meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sanders accused the media of going hysterical on issues relating to it. It shows frankly the outrageousness and the just desire to find the negative in everything that this President does, she said.
"Let's not forget that this didn't happen under President Trump's watch, this happened under the Obama administration. We're taking steps, we're making bold reforms to try to fix this and make sure it never happens again because we take it seriously and because we recognise that our election systems are incredibly important and is certainly a cornerstone of our democracy," the presidential advisor said.
The Trump administration, she said, is trying a new approach on its relationship with Russia.
Trump discussed some of these things directly, face-to-face with Putin, she said.
"The president also sees this as an opportunity, as he said many times, to be able to work with Russia. He recognises the fact that 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons are under the direction of the US and Russia," she said.
He thinks it's a good thing to get along with the other person that controls that much of the nuclear arsenal across the globe. He wants to create a more stable world, a more peaceful world.
"We can't do that if we can't get along with Russia in some capacity," she said.
At the same time, the administration has called him out.
"We've been tough. We've approached this in a totally different fashion than has been previously done, because what's been done in the past hasn't worked, so we're trying a new approach."
"But to act like he hasn't been tough on Russia, that he hasn't called them out is simply not true, and it simply completely changes everything that this administration has done in regards to that country," Sanders added.
