People need to stop acting like Trump is an idiot, and people need to stop acting like Trump is just concerned that if he acknowledges Russian hacking it will taint the perception of his election victory. Trump is isn't an idiot, and he could have easily won the argument about the legitimacy of his presidency despite Russia's efforts and intentions. People need to actually listen to Trump's own words (about the election interference, and about Putin well before the election) not what anyone else on his staff says, not what a Trump defender in congress says, and not the Trump rah rah media says. He is meaning to say what he is saying about this, so work from that when you try to find a plausible explanation for why he is saying what he is saying at this point. What is plausible is that Trump is more afraid of Putin than he is of the intelligence community and of the effete GOP congress. Trump is afraid of the Mueller probe though, and has done everything he can short of firing Sessions, Rosenstein, and Mueller (which he obviously would have done if the senate would have given him a pass), so he is boxed in, but Putin could make Meuller's job a lot easier which is why Trump's balls are clearly in Putin's pocket.