Michael Hernandez
13 June 2019•Update: 14 June 2019
WASHINGTON
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday defended comments in which he said he would accept dirt on his 2020 challengers if a foreign government offered it.
In an interview with ABC News Trump said Wednesday he may not alert the FBI if a foreign government reached out to him with damaging information on his opponents. "I think I’d take it," he said. He insisted there is nothing inherently wrong with taking such information.
The president sought to conflate in a series of Twitter posts the comments he made with daily interactions he has with foreign leaders.
"I meet and talk to 'foreign governments' every day. I just met with the Queen of England (U.K.), the Prince of Wales, the P.M. of the United Kingdom, the P.M. of Ireland, the President of France and the President of Poland. We talked about 'Everything!'" Trump said.
"Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings? How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again," the president added before lashing out at the media for allegedly "purposely" omitting "the part that matters" from his comments.
But the types of interactions Trump sought to equate in his social media posts with routine presidential interactions is hardly the type of conduct he was asked about during the interview.
In that conversation he directly disputed whether a foreign government offering damaging information on his Democratic challengers for the White House constitutes foreign interference in the U.S.'s domestic politics.
"It's not an interference, they have information. I think I'd take it," Trump said. "If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go maybe to the FBI -- if I thought there was something wrong."
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress in May that the bureau would want to be informed about any foreign efforts to meddle in the U.S. electoral process.
"The FBI director is wrong, because frankly it doesn't happen like that in life," Trump said when asked about the comments by ABC.
