Referring to a Fox report, President Trump on Saturday insisted in a tweet that Russia didn't want him to win the 2016 election.
President Trump on Saturday tweeted that Russia wouldn't have wanted him to win the presidency.
While referring to a 'Fox & Friends' report, Trump wrote, "In other words, Russia was against Trump in the 2016 Election - and why not, I want strong military & low oil prices. Witch Hunt!"
The Fox report titled, "Firm behind anti-Trump dossier also worked for Russia, Senate witness says," discusses testimony by investor Bill Browder to a Senate committee on Thursday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also issued a comment on the testimony during a pres briefing on the same day.
"There was public testimony that further discredited the phony dossier that's been the source of so much of the fake news and conspiracy theories. And we learned that the firm that produced it was also being paid by the Russians," Sanders said. "This is yet the latest piece of evidence that vindicates what the President has said, that this is a witch hunt and a hoax."
During an interview with CBN's Pat Robertson several weeks ago, Trump echoed similar thoughts about why he may not have been the preferred presidential candidate for Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
"We are the most powerful country in the world and we are getting more and more powerful because I'm a big military person. As an example, if Hillary had won, our military would be decimated. Our energy would be much more expensive," Trump told Robertson. "That's what Putin doesn't like about me. And that's why I say, why would he want me? Because from day one I wanted a strong military, he doesn't want to see that."
U.S. intelligence officials, however, asserted in an early January declassified report that Russia meddled in the U.S. election with the aim to help Trump.
“We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary [Hillary] Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency," the report reads. "We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”