President Trump claimed without evidence Tuesday that Russia would attempt to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections in support of Democrats.
"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!" Trump tweeted just before 11 a.m. ET.
Trump was aboard Air Force One headed to an event in Kansas City when he sent the tweet.
The entire US intelligence community has been in agreement that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election in support of Trump. The community has also warned that Russia will attempt to influence the 2018 midterms but has provided no evidence that Russia would side with one political party.
An indictment filed by special prosecutor Robert Mueller in February stated that Russian operatives run an influence campaign in support of a number of Democratic candidates during the 2016 primaries, but their support shifted to Trump during the general election.
President Trump in the past has called on countries like Germany in the past to stop supporting Russia through energy imports. However, he was reluctant to sign a law passed through Congress to levy sanctions against Russia, calling them "seriously flawed," citing the effect it had on the executive branch's negotiation power.
Trump also declined to back his intelligence community's findings on Russia meddling in a press conference with Vladimir Putin earlier this month. He's since said he supports the agencies' findings.
Trump's views on future election meddling were called in question last week when he appeared to tell a reporter that he didn't believe the Russians would attempt to influence the midterms. The White House later clarified to say that the President meant to decline the reporters' question, not answer "no."
Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.
