Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. intelligence community, the operation—code named Project Lakhta—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The "hacking and disinformation campaign" to damage Clinton and help Trump became the "core of the scandal known as Russiagate". The 448-page Mueller Report, made public in April 2019, examined over 200 contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials but concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring any conspiracy or coordination charges against Trump or his associates.
ODNI declassified assessment of "Russian activities and intentions in recent U.S. elections"
American intelligence agencies concluded that Russian president Vladimir Putin personally ordered the covert operation, code named Project Lakhta, while Putin denied the allegations. At the 2018 Helsinki summit, Putin said that he wanted Trump to win because he talked about normalizing the U.S.–Russia relationship.
The Russian Institute for Strategic Studies began working for the Russian presidency after 2009.
Initially in 2016 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "I think the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced the election in any way, I think is a pretty crazy idea."
Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump was formally launched on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, having won the most state primaries, caucuses, and delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He chose Mike Pence, the sitting governor of Indiana, as his vice presidential running mate. On November 8, 2016, Trump and Pence were elected president and vice president of the United States. Trump's populist positions in opposition to illegal immigration and various trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, earned him support especially among voters who were male, white, blue-collar, working class, and those without college degrees. Many voters in the Rust Belt, who gave Trump the electoral votes needed to win the presidency, switched from supporting Bernie Sanders to Trump after Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination.
Trump at an early campaign event in New Hampshire on July 16, 2015
Trump signs the Republican loyalty pledge promising to support the candidate nominated by the party and to not run as a third-party candidate, if he failed to clinch the nomination.
Trump and supporters attend a rally in Muscatine, Iowa, in January 2016
Anti-Trump protesters outside arena as Chicago rally is shut down on March 11, 2016