...collusion.

The first thing the probe was supposed to investigate was whether the Russian government manipulated public sentiment to help elect Trump. They established that beyond any reasonable doubt, and it should be a major fucking scandal and should make everyone inherently skeptical of his legitimacy in office, to this day.

The question of whether Trump *asked* them to do that was always sketchy. People were throwing around the phrase "useful idiot" from the beginning, and that always seemed like the most plausible scenario. (The plans for Trump Tower Moscow only strengthen this view.)

But by repeating "no collusion" over and over and over and over, in such a sketchy way, he goaded the press into thinking collusion was the story.

I'm not saying it's an act of strategic genius. It's actually pretty standard crisis management. When you're accused of something serious, change the subject to something where you don't think they'll find anything. Then claim victory after everyone's forgotten the original accusation. The press seems to fall for it every time.