President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 presidential elections, contrary to claims by his critics and opponents.
Trump made his comments during an interview by Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN):
In an effort to debunk claims that Russia wanted to help him win the election, the president argued thats an illogical conclusion.
He thinks Putin would actually have been happier with Hillary Clinton in the White House because hes building the U.S. military and working to export U.S. energy, which Russia opposes.
We are the most powerful country in the world and we are getting more and more powerful because Im a big military person. As an example, if Hillary had won, our military would be decimated. Our energy would be much more expensive. Thats what Putin doesnt like about me. And thats why I say, why would he want me? Because from day one I wanted a strong military, he doesnt want to see that, Trump told Robertson.
And from day one I want fracking and everything else to get energy prices low and to create tremendous energy. Were going to be self-supporting, we just about are now. Were going to be exporting energy he doesnt want that. He would like Hillary where she wants to have windmills. He would much rather have that because energy prices would go up and Russia as you know relies very much on energy, he continued.
So there are many things that I do that are the exact opposite of what he would want. So what I keep hearing about that he would have rather had Trump, I think probably not, because when I want a strong military, you know she wouldnt have spent the money on military, he said. When I want tremendous energy, were opening up coal, were opening up natural gas, were opening up fracking, all the things that he would hate, but nobody ever mentions that.
Trumps analysis is similar to that provided by Breitbart News in May (original links):
It is an article of faith on the left that Russia wanted Trump to win the election because Vladimir Putin anticipated a more pliant approach, signaled by Trumps explicit desire to negotiate a better relationship. But the Russians may just as well have preferred Hillary Clinton, who had given Russia everything it wanted while serving as President Barack Obamas Secretary of State from the ill-fated reset, to a surrender of U.S. missile defenses in Eastern Europe, to the sale of 20% of Americas uranium reserves to a Russian company closely tied to the Russian state.
In June 2016, in an email released Tuesday by Donald Trump, Jr., pop music publicist Rob Goldstone wrote an email to the younger Trump in which he attempted to arrange a meeting with a Russian lawyer who, he said, had high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its governments support for Mr. Trump.
Though the lawyer apparently did not have such information, the email has encouraged Trumps critics and opponents in their belief that Russia intervened in the U.S. presidential election in an attempt to help Trump win.
The full CBN interview airs on Thursday.