Security News > 2020 > December > Trump Downplays Russia in First Comments on Cyberattack
Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested without evidence that China - not Russia - may be behind the cyberattack against the United States and tried to minimized its impact.
Officials at the White House had been prepared to put out a statement Friday afternoon that accused Russia of being "The main actor" in the hack, but were told at the last minute to stand down, according to one U.S. official familiar with the conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Though Pompeo was the first Trump administration official to publicly blame Russia for the attacks, cybersecurity experts and other U.S. officials have been clear over the past week that the operation appears to be the work of Russia.
Russia has said it had "Nothing to do" with the hacking.
While Trump downplayed the impact of the hacks, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has said it compromised federal agencies as well as "Critical infrastructure." Homeland Security, the agency's parent department, defines such infrastructure as any "Vital" assets to the U.S. or its economy, a broad category that could include power plants and financial institutions.