President Trump said Tuesday he’s unconcerned about Russia influencing the 2018 midterm elections, but said he recognizes Russia and “probably” other countries meddled in 2016.
“The Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever. But certainly there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals,” Trump said at a joint press conference with Sweden’s prime minister.
Trump has resisted the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help him win, and has described that allegation as a “hoax” meant to give Democrats an excuse for losing. But Trump recommended Sweden and other countries take steps to ensure the security of their voting systems.
“I think you have to be watching very closely, you don’t want your system of votes to be compromised in any way, and we won’t allow that to happen,” Trump said Tuesday.
Trump endorsed paper ballots as a measure to counteract potential future attempts to influence the outcome of elections.
“You have to be very vigilant and one of the things we’re learning is it’s always good, it’s old-fashioned but it’s always good to have a paper backup system of voting,” he said. “It’s called paper, not highly complex computers. Paper. And a lot of states are doing it. They’re going to a paper backup and I think it’s a great idea.”
Trump said the Department of Homeland Security was working to ensure election systems are secure and repeated he was not concerned about this year’s vote.
“We’ll counteract whatever they do. we’ll counteract it very strongly,” Trump said.
