THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

When in the presence of powerful leaders, Trump has twice put his tail between his legs and told the world that Americans are bad but the leaders of China and Russia are good.

President Trump said on Saturday that he believed President Vladimir V. Putin was sincere in his denials of interference in the 2016 presidential elections, calling questions about Moscow’s meddling a politically motivated “hit job” that was hindering cooperation with Russia on life-or-death issues.

Speaking after meeting privately with Mr. Putin on the sideline of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting in Danang, Vietnam, Mr. Trump said that he had again asked whether Russia had meddled in the contest, but that the continued focus on the issue was insulting to Mr. Putin.

Mr. Trump said it was time to move past the issue so that the United States and Russia could cooperate on confronting the nuclear threat from North Korea, solving the Syrian civil war and working together on Ukraine.

“He said he didn’t meddle — I asked him again,” Mr. Trump told reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One as he flew to Hanoi for more meetings. “You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.”

Mr. Trump did not answer a direct question about whether he believed Mr. Putin’s denials, but his account of the conversation indicated he was far more inclined to accept the Russian president’s assertions than those of his own intelligence agencies, which have concluded that Mr. Putin directed an elaborate effort to interfere in the vote.

“Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Putin. “I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.”

Mr. Trump heaped disdain on the former leaders of three American intelligence agencies — John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director; James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence; and James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director he fired this year — appearing to suggest that they were less trustworthy than Mr. Putin.

“I mean, give me a break — they’re political hacks,” Mr. Trump said. “You have Brennan, you have Clapper, and you have Comey. Comey’s proven now to be a liar, and he’s proven to be a leaker, so you look at that. And you have President Putin very strongly, vehemently says he had nothing to do with that.”

Fortunately there are still some Americans who believe this is a really disgusting position for an American president to take.

His remarks inspired immediate ridicule from lawmakers, including Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

“You know who else is insulted by it, Mr. President? The American people,” Mr. Schiff said on Twitter. “You believe a foreign adversary over your own intelligence agencies.”

Representative Ted Lieu, another California Democrat, called Mr. Trump “dumb as a rock.” Mr. Lieu wrote on Twitter that both he and Mr. Trump had seen classified information on Russia’s interference in the election, and that Mr. Trump’s comments were lies.

“Trump knows the Kremlin hacked America last year,” Mr. Lieu said.

After Mr. Trump’s comments, Gen. Michael V. Hayden, a former director of both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, wrote on Twitter that the C.I.A. had told him that the agency’s director “stands by and has always stood by” its January findings regarding Russian interference.

“The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed,” he wrote.

Trump, as usual had the last word.

“Having a good relationship with Russia is a great, great thing,” Mr. Trump said. “This artificial Democratic hit job gets in the way, and that’s a shame, because people will die.”

Which probably means that Trump and Jared will turn over the last remaining intelligence assets in Russia to Putin to dispose of as Pooty sees fit. And now that Trump has his new orders for the new year, may God have mercy on our country.