--- title: Donald Trump Again Denies Russian Election Hacking description: Donald Trump speculated that if the tables were turned and he had lost the election, allegations of Russian hacking would be dismissed canonical: https://time.com/4597693/donald-trump-russia-election-hacking/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-12T14:46:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:15:12.816Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: If I Lost and Blamed Russia It Would Be Called a Conspiracy Theory og:description: Trump asked why warnings of Russian hacks were not brought up earlier. They were og:url: https://time.com/4597693/donald-trump-russia-election-hacking/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88d083b96dec32e4/6988b2940a4a22ad099cc518/gettyimages-628833296.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4488 og:image:height: 2525 og:image:alt: President Elect Trump Continues His "Thank You Tour" In Grand Rapids, Michigan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: If I Lost and Blamed Russia It Would Be Called a Conspiracy Theory twitter:description: Trump asked why warnings of Russian hacks were not brought up earlier. They were twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88d083b96dec32e4/6988b2940a4a22ad099cc518/gettyimages-628833296.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump: If I Lost and Blamed Russia It Would Be Called a Conspiracy Theory > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d2a8ebf6-454f-4cf0-b07d-9b240670392d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 2:46 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump looks on during at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Drew Angerer—Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump looks on during at the DeltaPlex Arena, December 9, 2016 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Dec 12, 2016 2:46 PM UTC [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/) speculated Monday that if the tables were turned and he had lost the election, allegations of Russian hacking would be dismissed as a conspiracy theory. Trump has repeatedly shot down the emerging American intelligence that Russian interference in the 2016 election was meant to bolster his campaign. In an interview with [TIME for Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/), Trump said he did not believe the Russians interfered. “It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey,” he said. “I believe that it could have been Russia and it could have been any one of many other people.” On Monday, Trump continued his denial, suggesting there was a political motivation behind the intelligence community’s assessment. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/808299841147248640) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/808300706914594816) Trump also asked why questions or warnings about Russian hacks were not brought up during the election, when in fact they were. In late August, officials indicated that there had been attempts to hack election systems and access voter information across the country. [While it would have been difficult to impact the actual vote count](http://time.com/magazine/us/4512760/october-10th-2016-vol-188-no-14-u-s/), that likely was not what Russian actors wanted to do. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4597693/donald-trump-russia-election-hacking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4597693/donald-trump-russia-election-hacking/"},"headline":"Donald Trump: If I Lost and Blamed Russia It Would Be Called a Conspiracy Theory","datePublished":"2016-12-12T14:46:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:15:12.816Z","description":"Trump also asked why warnings about Russian hacks were not brought up during the election. 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