The U.S. will definitely "take action" against Russia for launching cyber-attacks and trying to influence the presidential election, President Barack Obama told NPR in an exclusive interview released in part on Thursday.
"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action," Obama told Steve Inskeep, the host of NPR's Morning Edition program, which was set to air the full interview on Friday. "And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be."
Obama didn't hint at any particular possibility, but at the same time he promised a retaliatory effort against the country that has increasingly exhibited aggressive posturing toward the U.S. in recent years.
"There are still a whole range of assessments taking place among the agencies," the president continued in part.
What exactly those "assessments" could lead to is anyone's guess, but considering the two countries' current, rivaling interests in Syria, the U.S. could react in a number of effective ways.
One route the U.S. could consider is to launch a cyberattack of its own against Russia, which is expecting its own national elections in 2018. Polling there has already gotten underway, showing most Russian citizens are in favor of re-electing President Vladimir Putin. The Russian president had not yet formally declared his candidacy. The U.S. intelligence community has charged that Putin was not only aware of the hacking, but personally involved in it.
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