President Trump says ‘Obama was a patsy for Russia’

In a recent interview with CNBC, President Trump defended his July 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserting that he’s been tougher on Russia than past US presidents. In particular, he slammed former President Obama, calling him a “total patsy” for Russia.

“Obama was a patsy for Russia. He was a total patsy,” Trump said. “Look at the statement he made where he thought the mics were turned off. Okay. The stupid statement he made. Nobody does a big deal about that.”

“Getting along with President Putin and getting along with Russia is a positive, not a negative,” Trump added.

RELATED: President Donald Trump meets with Vladimir Putin in Finland

The president’s remarks came on the heels of criticism he has faced for not denouncing Russia’s election meddling during Monday’s press conference with Putin.

Trump cast doubt on the US intelligence community’s findings that Russia made significant efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and appeared to accept the Russian leader’s claim to the contrary.

The U.S. president commented: “I have president Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”

He also cast aspersions on the FBI.

“You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server,” Trump said. “Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee? I’ve been wondering that. I’ve been asking that for months and months, and I’ve been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. Where is the server?”