Donald Trump has moved to clarify comments made during his press conference with Vladimir Putin yesterday.
The President says he got his words mixed up when speaking next to the Russian president.
Mr Trump insists he has "full faith and support" for his intelligence agencies - after he appeared to suggest he believed Vladimir Putin over them.
Speaking to reporters in the White House today, he explained: "Let me be totally clear in saying that I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russian meddling in the 2016 election took place - could be other people also, there's a lot of people out there. There was no collusion at all."
He added: "I realise that there is a need for some clarification. It should have been obvious - I thought it would be obvious - but I would like to clarify... in a key sentence in my remarks I said would instead of wouldn't".
"The sentence should have been 'I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia'".
BREAKING: President Trump claims he misspoke while discussing election meddling during news conference with Putin: "In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.' ... The sentence should've been: 'I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia'" pic.twitter.com/2bA9EionD1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 17, 2018
His clarification comes after a number of senior Republicans sharply criticised the US President for his remarks.
Senator John McCain called it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory".
Newt Gingrich - a key ally of President Trump - was among others who criticised the remarks.
President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected—-immediately.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) July 16, 2018
