Trump hands Putin a diplomatic triumph by casting doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies

Helsinki • President Donald Trump handed Russian President Vladimir Putin an unalloyed diplomatic triumph during their summit here Monday as he refused to support the collective conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Trump's warm rhetorical embrace of Putin, who he said had given him an "extremely strong and powerful" denial that Russia assaulted America's democracy, marked an extraordinary capstone to the first formal mee