Over the weekend, Trump contradicted his own secretary of state and dismissed the severity of a hack that experts say is unprecedented. Trump’s response makes it clear that he has no intention of taking any action to hold our attackers accountable.

Trump contradicted his own administration officials by dismissing the severity of the hack and questioning who was responsible.

Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Trump, in his first comments on the hack Saturday on Twitter, contradicted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other administration officials by dismissing its severity and questioning whether Russia was responsible. Then he pivoted quickly to the election, saying voting machines could have been infiltrated, an idea government experts have refuted.”

Trump sought to undermine intelligence findings by raising the possibility that other countries could be responsible for the hack.

New York Times: “Hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a conservative radio show host that ‘we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians’ behind the vast hack of the federal government and American industry, he was contradicted on Saturday by President Trump, who sought to muddy the intelligence findings by raising the possibility that China was responsible.”

Trump played down the severity of the hack despite experts saying the attack was on a scale that Washington had never experienced.

New York Times: “Defying the conclusions of experts inside and outside the government who say the attack was a cybersecurity breach on a scale Washington has never experienced, Mr. Trump also played down the severity of the hack, saying ‘everything is well under control,’ insisting that the news media has exaggerated the damage and suggesting, with no evidence, that the real issue was whether the election results had been compromised.”

Trump’s dismissive statements have made it clear that there will be no serious effort by his administration to take actions in response to the hack.

New York Times: “With 30 days left in office, Mr. Trump’s dismissive statements made clear there would be no serious effort by his administration to punish Russia for the hack, and national security officials say they are all but certain to hand off the fallout and response to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.”