Trump downplays Russia in first comments on cyberattack

Donald Trump has refused to blame Russia for well-documented hostilities (Andrew Harnik/AP)

US President Donald Trump has contradicted his secretary of state and on Saturday suggested without evidence that China, not Russia, may be behind the cyberattack against the United States, and tried to minimise its impact.

In his first comments on the breach, Mr Trump scoffed at the focus on the Kremlin and downplayed the intrusions, which the nation’s cybersecurity agency has warned posed a “grave” risk to government and private networks.