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<p>ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) &#8212; Former President George W. Bush said on Thursday that &#8220;there&#8217;s pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled&#8221; in the 2016 American presidential election, forcefully rebutting fellow Republican Donald Trump&#8217;s denials of Moscow trying to affect the vote.</p><p>While never mentioning President Trump by name, Bush appeared to be pushing back on Trump&#8217;s attempts to have warmer relations with Russia, as well as his comments on immigration.</p><p>The White House did not immediately comment on Bush&#8217;s remarks.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled,&#8221; Bush said at a talk in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. &#8220;Whether they affected the outcome is another question.&#8221;</p><p>Bush also said that &#8220;it&#8217;s problematic that a foreign nation is involved in our election system. Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results.&#8221;</p><p>U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump win. Numerous investigations are under way to determine whether Trump&#8217;s campaign aided the Kremlin in its efforts.</p><p>Trump has repeatedly denied any &#8220;collusion&#8221; with Russia.</p><p>Speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush called him &#8220;zero-sum.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s got a chip on his shoulder,&#8221; Bush said of Putin. &#8220;The reason he does is because of the demise of the Soviet Union troubles him. Therefore, much of his moves (are) to regain Soviet hegemony.&#8221;</p><p>Bush also stressed the need to back NATO and other alliances the U.S. has with the world.</p><p>Putin &#8220;is pushing, constantly pushing, probing weaknesses,&#8221; the former president said. &#8220;That&#8217;s why NATO is very important.&#8221;</p><p>Bush also criticized Trump&#8217;s decision to scrap a program implemented by former President Barack Obama&#8217;s administration that allows young immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who were brought here as children to remain in America.</p><p>&#8220;America&#8217;s their home,&#8221; the 43rd American president said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve got to get it fixed.&#8221;</p><p>Bush acknowledged that he tried to overhaul America&#8217;s &#8220;broken&#8221; immigration system, but failed.</p><p>&#8220;There are people willing to do jobs that Americans won&#8217;t do,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Americans don&#8217;t want to pick cotton at 105 degrees (Fahrenheit), but there are people who want put food on their family&#8217;s tables and are willing to do that. We ought to say thank you and welcome them.&#8221;</p><p>Bush in 2008 became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the UAE. He spoke Thursday at a summit in Abu Dhabi put on by the Milken Institute, an economic think tank based in California.</p><p>He made his comments while in a conversation with Michael Milken, known as the king of high-risk &#8220;junk&#8221; bonds in the 1980s. Milken pleaded guilty to securities-law violations in 1990 and served 22 months in prison. He agreed in a settlement with the SEC to a lifetime ban from the securities industry and paid a $200 million fine.</p><p>Milken, who is a prostate cancer survivor, and his family have given hundreds of millions of dollars away in recent decades. Forbes magazine estimates Milken, 71, is now worth some $3.6 billion.</p><p>___</p><p>Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">FILE- In this Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 file photo, former U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at a forum sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute in New York. Bush spoke Thursday at a summit in Abu Dhabi put on by the Milken Institute, an economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_119764846-b424f402184142ceb0c14244c0be3a7c.jpg</photo0><caption0>FILE- In this Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 file photo, former U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at a forum sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute in New York. Bush spoke Thursday at a summit in Abu Dhabi put on by the Milken Institute, an economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

George W. Bush says Russia meddled in 2016 US election