WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he believed Moscow will work hard to sway November congressional elections toward Democrats and not his fellow Republicans, despite U.S. intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia tried to put Trump in the White House in 2016.
“I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!” the U.S. president wrote on Twitter.
U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia’s efforts to undermine elections are continuing and now target the Nov. 6 congressional races.
Democrats need to pick up two seats to take control of the Senate and 23 seats to take the House of Representatives. Wresting control of a chamber would allow them to derail or stall much of Trump’s policy agenda, while ushering in more aggressive congressional oversight and investigation of Trump’s administration.
Trump’s appearance at a July 16 summit with Putin in Helsinki last week drew a fierce backlash in the United States after he shied away from blaming the Russian leader for the election interference. Critics accused Trump of siding with Russia over his own country by failing to so.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Tim Ahmann; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
