What did Donald Trump do today?
He said he was a "nightmare" for Russia while directly advocating for Russian interests.
Just before departing for the Group of Seven summit, an annual conference between the world's major industrialized democracies, Trump announced his belief that Russia should be re-integrated into the talks.
It used to be the G8, because Russia was in it. And now Russia's not in it. ...Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having the meeting without Russia being in the meeting? And I would recommend--and it's up to them--but Russia should be in the meeting, it should be a part of it. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be "politically correct," but we have a world to run. And if the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out, they should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.
The other G7 nations, led by the United States, expelled Russia in 2014 for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia continues to occupy the Crimea, a large peninsula that the rest of the world considers part of Ukraine. It's not clear if Trump knows this.
Trump frequently insists he didn't "collude" with Russia's sabotage of the election for his benefit. But whether or not Trump actively helped Russia to help elect him, his administration's policies have been spectacularly pro-Russia. He has shared allies' top secret intelligence with the Putin regime, done everything in his power to delay or frustrate legally imposed U.S. sanctions against Russians, and even lavished praise on Putin personally. (Outside of the Trump White House, Putin is generally regarded as a corrupt kleptocrat who relies on murder and complete control of the media to hold on to power.)
CNN reported that Trump had not checked in with his national security advisors before making the comments.
Trump frequently insists he didn't "collude" with Russia's sabotage of the election for his benefit. But whether or not Trump actively helped Russia to help elect him, his administration's policies have been spectacularly pro-Russia. He has shared allies' top secret intelligence with the Putin regime, done everything in his power to delay or frustrate legally imposed U.S. sanctions against Russians, and even lavished praise on Putin personally. (Outside of the Trump White House, Putin is generally regarded as a corrupt kleptocrat who relies on murder and complete control of the media to hold on to power.)
CNN reported that Trump had not checked in with his national security advisors before making the comments.
Perhaps aware of how it would look for him to be going to bat for Russia yet again, Trump also insisted that he had been "Russia's worst nightmare" and that Putin would have preferred Hillary Clinton as president.
Why should I care about this?
- If a president is doing the bidding of a hostile foreign power, it almost doesn't matter why.
- Believing that others have your worst qualities is called projection, and it is not a sign of good mental health.
- It's a problem if the only person the President of the United States seems to genuinely admire and care for is Vladimir Putin.