Trump says he talked to Putin about ‘Russian Hoax’ but not about ongoing election interference

President Trump said he and Russian President Vladi­mir Putin discussed the end of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election during a lengthy phone call Friday but said he did not raise concerns about the possibility of Russian interference to come in the 2020 contest.

Trump also contradicted his top national security aides on Russian motives in Venezuela, where the United States and Russia are on opposite sides of a deadly political schism. The two leaders, during their first known conversation in months, also discussed North Korea, whose leader met with Putin last month, and a potential nuclear arms control deal.