“President Putin said it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it should be … I will tell you, President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial.”

So there you have it. Asked to choose between the verbal assurances of the Russian president (a former KGB officer who has lied about all offensive cyberoperations against the West) and the detailed reports of U.S. intelligence agencies (as well as the repeated testimony of his own entire national security team), Trump chose the Russian spy.

Jaws should have dropped further when, a few moments later, Putin issued a “non-denial denial” of staggeringly obvious proportions. In response to a similar question, the Russian president said that when Trump came to Moscow in 2013, which is when some analysts think the special relationship began, “I didn’t even know he was in Moscow.” Even if this is true, it’s irrelevant, as several Russian intelligence officers, including some from Putin’s inner circle, knew Trump was there; according to some reports, they held at least one meeting with him.

Asked to choose between the verbal assurances of aa former KGB officer and the detailed reports of U.S. intelligence agencies, Trump chose the Russian spy.
Finally there was this moment: Asked by a reporter whether he would extradite the 12 Russian intelligence officers named in the Justice Department’s indictment last week, Putin offered to have his security team talk with those officers—and invited special counsel Robert Mueller to send questions and even to come witness the interrogation. However, Putin added, in exchange for this favor, Russia would insist on “reciprocity”—that is, he would demand access to “people of interest for us” in the United States (presumably, Russian spies who have been captured).

Amazingly, Trump thought this was a great idea—“an incredible offer,” he called it. Was he unaware that any such interrogation in Moscow would be a show? Did he miss the implications of letting Russian agents in on a U.S. counterintelligence operation against other Russian agents? Could he really be so naïve and so uninformed? The answer appears to be: Yes.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/after-helsinki-any-responsible-membe
r-of-trumps-national-security-team-must-resign.html

This was the first time I can recall Trump trying to crawl back on dry land. Doubt anybody believed him, but he's in good company; most of us have at some stage said something we deeply regret, yet lack the balls to admit it. So we come up with some lame excuses nobody believe in.