Shock in Washington, over Donald Trump's decision to side with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence agencies.

The US president has refused to blame the Russian leader for meddling in the 2016 elections, instead casting doubt on the findings and intentions of his own intelligence agencies.

He's come out of a one-on-one meeting with Putin in Helsinki. 

The BBC's Stuart Hughes told Mike Hosking the political and intelligence community can't believe what they're hearing.

"He said 'President Putin said it's not Russia, I don't see why it would be'. That's what caused the jaws to drop as that put him completely at odds with his own intelligence community."

LISTEN TO STUART HUGHES TALK WITH MIKE HOSKING ABOVE