The White House on Saturday denied that President Donald Trump was briefed on reported US intelligence that Russia’s military offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill US troops in Afghanistan, with Democratic rival Joe Biden criticizing Trump for failing to take action against Moscow.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement that “neither the president nor the vice-president (Mike Pence) was briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence”. The statement, McEnany said, did not address the “merit of the alleged intelligence” reported on Friday by the New York Times...