Trump: Russia to Help Democrats in Next Elections

Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that he is “very concerned that Russia will fight hard to influence the upcoming elections”.

The president wrote that based on the fact that no president has been tougher to Russia than he, “a would work hard in favour of the Democrats. They don't want Trump in any way! ”

President Trump's statements that Moscow would favour the Democrats in the 6 November Congress competitions contradict the US intelligence community's conclusions that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential elections to help candidate Trump win the White House.

At last week's Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump apparently backed the Russian leader's denial that Russia had intervened in the election and opposed Putin's statement of American intelligence conclusions, which says Moscow had intervened.

After returning to Washington, Mr. Trump said he backed his intelligence officials and their conclusion, often adding his usual statement that his campaign did not work secretly with the Russians and that Russian intervention had no effect on the outcome of the elections.

On Sunday, however, he blamed former President Barack Obama for failing to stop Russia's intervention in the election, calling it a major goal.

Top American intelligence officials say Russia is again trying to intervene in the American election process in November, even though administration officials Trump have promised they will try to stop this.

Republicans now have a majority in both chambers of Congress, but political analysts say Democrats can take control of one or both rooms in November. The Democrats need two seats to get most of the Senate and 23 for the House of Representatives when the new Congress begins operating in January.

Even with the control they now have, the Republicans have had difficulty adopting President Trump's legislative agenda and would likely be more difficult if the Democrats win more votes.

If the Democrats take over the Chamber, opponents of President Trump can begin numerous investigations into his administration and open hearings to remove him from the White House.

Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller is continuing his investigation into Russian intervention in the 2016 elections, also investigating whether the Trump campaign has co-operated secretly with Moscow.

Mr. Mueller recently pressed charges against 12 Russian military intelligence officials for piracy of computers of the National Democrat Committee. / VOA