Trump admits Russia has acted to elect him in 2016, but back

Shortly after posting a message on Twitter, President backed down and harshly criticized Attorney General Robert Mueller

US President Donald Trump acknowledged in a tweet Thursday that Russiahelped elect him. But he quickly stepped back from talking to the press.

To this day, Trump had been adamant, claiming that he won the 2016 election fairly and minimizing the impact of what the American intelligence community described as a concerted effort by Moscow to intervene in his favor.

"Russia, Russia, Russia! You only heard this at the beginning of this witch hunt, "trump Trump, a day after special prosecutor Robert Mueller publicly spoke about his findings from the investigation into Moscow's interference in the 2016 election campaign.

"And now, Russia has disappeared because I had nothing to do with Russia helping to elect me," he added, admitting for the first time that Moscow acted in his favor.

Later, Trump retreated to reporters at the White House. "No, Russia did not help elect me," he said. "Do you know who elected me? I elected myself, "added the 45th president of the United States.

On Wednesday, 29, in a 10-minute speech, special prosecutor Robert Muller, a former FBI director, reiterated that he had not collected "evidence" of an agreement between Moscow and the campaign team of candidate Trump.

He was careful, however, to point out that he could not exempt the president from suspicions of obstruction of justice. He also said that the country's constitution prevents him from making any formal accusation against the Republican.

For Donald Trump, the case is closed. "There was no obstruction, there is collusion, there is nothing, nothing except a witch hunt," he said. Asked about Mueller's professionalism, he directly questioned his integrity: "It's someone who does not like Donald Trump."

According to the official, the special prosecutor "should never have been appointed" to conduct investigations into Russia's interference. If Mueller's speech did not bring new elements to the case, he revived appeals to begin a process of impeachment against the billionaire, a subject that deeply divides the Democrats.

The latter have a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and therefore are able to launch this process. But given the Republican majority in the Senate, its failure is almost certain.

Trump was asked if he fears the opening of an impeachment process. "I do not see how they could do that," he said before embarking on the Marine One presidential helicopter waiting for him on the White House lawn.

"This whole thing is just a giant presidential siege."

In June last year, during a press conference after his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki with Vladimir Putin, Trump said he did not believe that Russia had interfered in American politics. The president even went so far as to suggest that US intelligence agencies were wrong in favor of the Moscow investigations.