Donald Trump says, without evidence, Russians want to influence 2018 elections for Democrats

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump suggested Russia might try to sway the outcome of the 2018 U.S. midterm elections in favor of Democrats just a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was glad Trump won the 2016 presidential election.

Trump made the comment Tuesday in a tweet, but gave no evidence for his claims. Trump has been criticized for inconsistent statements about whether he accepts the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Moscow meddled in the 2016 campaign.

"Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats," Trump tweeted en route to Kansas City, Missouri, for a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "They definitely don’t want Trump!"

Democrats called it the latest example of Trump trolling.

"So obviously, you invited Putin over here, in the weeks before the upcoming election, as an indication of your concern," tweeted Ronald Klain, a former Barack Obama administration official.

Trump faced a barrage of bipartisan criticism after his joint news conference with Putin in Helsinki. Some Republican and Democratic lawmakers saw his demeanor as too deferential.

After their private meeting, Trump suggested he accepted Putin's denials over his own intelligence community's conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election by hacking Democrats and pushing fake news about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Special counsel Robert Mueller indicted a dozen Russians in connection with the alleged plot just days before the Helsinki summit.

Trump later sought to walk back that statement, but declared the Putin meeting a success and said he is seeking a second meeting with the Russian leader in the fall.

Asked in Helsinki whether he wanted Trump to win in 2016, Putin said, "Yes."

Referring to that answer, Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York responded to Trump by tweeting: "Let's go to the video tape (again)."

WSOC