For all his talk about Hillary Clinton and the Russia investigation, Donald Trump doesn’t seem to care that Russians hacked into sensitive government databases this year.
Answering questions outside the Kennedy Center Wednesday, the U.S. president appeared remarkably blasé about the foreign attack.
“There’s new reporting that the Russians have hacked into computer systems that manage U.S. federal court documents. I wonder if you’ve seen this report, and do you plan to bring it up with Putin when you see him later in the week?” asked one reporter.
“I guess I could. Are you surprised? Are you surprised? They hack in, that’s what they do,” Trump said. “They’re good at it, we’re good at it, we’re actually better at it.”
REPORTER: There’s new reporting that Russians have hacked into computer systems that manage US federal courts documents. Do you plan to bring it up with Putin?TRUMP: I guess I could. Are you surprised? They hack in — what’s what they do pic.twitter.com/N6AectFbBZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2025
The New York Times reported Tuesday that a Russian entity had accessed the court case document system, as well as “recently compromised sealed records,” as part of a yearslong effort.
“Some of the searches included mid-level criminal cases in the New York City area and several other jurisdictions, with some cases involving people with Russian and Eastern European surnames,” the Times reported.
But the president’s shocking reaction to the attack also undercuts Republican efforts to reframe the 2016 Trump-Russia scandal against Clinton and former President Barack Obama: if he doesn’t care about Russian meddling under the nose of his administration, why would he care so deeply about reframing the narrative around the foreign power’s intervention nine years ago?
Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in Alaska to discuss a potential resolution to the war in Ukraine. It will be the first time that the Russian leader has stepped foot on U.S. soil in over a decade.
The post Trump Admits One Thing He Won’t Ask Putin During Ukraine Meeting appeared first on New Republic.
