Trump: If Foreigners Had Dirt on 2020 Rivals, 'I'd Take It'

President Trump made what his opponents called a stunning admission during an ABC interview Wednesday: He said he would consider accepting damaging information on his 2020 rivals from foreign governments. "I think I'd take it," the president told George Stephanopoulos. "I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening," Trump said. "If somebody called from a country, Norway, 'We have information on your opponent'—oh, I think I'd want to hear it." He rejected the suggestion that the information would be "interference" and said he would "maybe" go to the FBI if he thought there was "something wrong." But "when you go and talk, honestly, to congressman, they all do it, they always have, and that's the way it is," Trump claimed. "It's called oppo research."

When Stephanopoulos told him that FBI Director Chris Wray had said the bureau should be contacted in such a case, Trump said: "The FBI director is wrong, because frankly it doesn't happen like that in real life." Trump's remarks were swiftly condemned by potential 2020 rivals including Joe Biden, the BBC reports. Trump "is once again welcoming foreign interference in our elections," he tweeted. "This isn’t about politics. It is a threat to our national security." Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein tells Politico that Americans involved in elections have a "fundamental responsibility" to report contacts with foreign agents. (More President Trump stories.)