The White House is scrambling to contain the backlash caused by President Trump's heavily criticized summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Wednesday Trump appeared to deny Russia was still targeting U.S. elections, contradicting warnings made by his top intelligence chief.
Reporter, off-camera: "Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr President?"
Trump: "Thank you very much, no."
But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders later insisted Trump was not replying to that question.
"I got a chance to speak with the president after his comments and the president was - said thank you very much and was saying 'no' to answering questions. The president and his administration are working very hard to make sure that Russia is unable to meddle in our elections."
However, President Trump did go on to answer more questions after his Cabinet meeting.
He also said no U.S. President has been tougher on Russia than he has.
