Trump Says Those at the ‘Higher Ends of Intelligence’ Loved His Remarks With Putin

Image

President Trump spoke on Tuesday during a White House meeting with members of Congress.CreditTom Brenner for The New York Times

By Eileen Sullivan

July 18, 2018

WASHINGTON — President Trump said Wednesday that “many people at the higher ends of intelligence” loved his performance during Monday’s joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. But it was not immediately clear which people Mr. Trump was referring to — very smart, intelligent people or senior officials in the nation’s intelligence agencies.

So many people at the higher ends of intelligence loved my press conference performance in Helsinki. Putin and I discussed many important subjects at our earlier meeting. We got along well which truly bothered many haters who wanted to see a boxing match. Big results will come!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2018

Mr. Trump’s own director of intelligence, Dan Coats — the most senior intelligence official in the Trump administration — pushed back against Mr. Trump’s remarks during Monday’s news conference and clearly stated, again, that the American intelligence agencies had concluded Russia tried to influence the 2016 election.

Less than a day after Mr. Trump attempted to clarify his position on Russia and election meddling — stating specifically that he does not see why Russia would not be behind it — the president on Wednesday praised the outcome of the summit with Mr. Putin in a series of early-morning Twitter posts and promised, “Big results will come!”

Mr. Trump also criticized his critics on Wednesday.

The details of his two-hour meeting alone with Mr. Putin have yet to be disclosed, even as Russia’s defense ministry announced that it was ready to put in motion the unspecified agreements Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin reached. Critics continue to raise concerns about the lack of details about what was said in the meeting, particularly in light of the deferential stance Mr. Trump appeared to take during a joint news conference with Mr. Putin on Monday.

“The Russian Defense Ministry is ready for the practical implementation of agreements in the area of global security reached in Helsinki between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump,” according to a statement from the Russian ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, which was posted on the Russian embassy’s Facebook page.

Mr. Trump returned to the White House on Monday after his summit meeting with Mr. Putin and was confronted with criticism from Republicans in Congress, his own aides and his allies on Fox News.

Reading from written remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Trump assured Americans that he did believe Russia was behind the 2016 election interference and that he accepted the conclusions of his most senior intelligence officials. He blamed the misunderstanding on a failed attempt to use a double negative.

Without further clarification, it may be difficult to decode the meaning of “people at the higher ends of intelligence.”

If Mr. Trump meant members of his own intelligence community, it would raise the question of “who?” — as the president’s own director of national intelligence issued a rare public statement, pushing back against Mr. Trump’s assertions in Helsinki.

If Mr. Trump meant very smart, intelligent people, that would emphasize his preamble on Tuesday leading into his explanation of his grammar mishap, which included subtle jabs at his critics: “It should have been obvious — I thought it would be obvious — but I would like to clarify, just in case it wasn’t.”

In an interview after the news conference on Monday with the Fox News host Sean Hannity — one of few members of the news media whom the president has said he respects — Mr. Trump was cheery. In the interview, Mr. Trump described the meeting with Mr. Putin as productive and the necessary opening for a new era of cooperation with Russia. But as the president flew back to Washington on Air Force One, his good mood began to dissipate, as he saw the negative reactions what he viewed as a very positive summit meeting.

White House aides on Tuesday encouraged him to clarify what he meant, even as he has previously waffled on his confidence in American intelligence agencies, including on conclusions about Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

“I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday, after he said he misspoke.