Donald Trump’s disgraceful bow to Russia
Donald Trump’s meeting Monday with Russian president Vladimir Putin was historic in all the wrong ways. It featured an American president siding with an enemy of the U.S. over his administration and intelligence officials. It was the first time in memory a president was this deferential, this weak, in the presence of an adversary.
If there was a bright side, it’s this: It might be the only way for some Americans to understand just how alarmed they should be about their president’s perspective on Russia.
What did America see in one incredible news conference Monday?
We saw Trump place blame on the U.S. for its relationship with Russia - without mentioning Putin and his country’s years of global aggression.
We saw our president once again malign the FBI and Justice Department for investigating Russian interference in our 2016 election, then decline to object when Putin denied his country’s involvement. This just days after the Justice Department indicted 12 Russian agents for hacking the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign in an attempt to help Trump.
We saw Trump - one day after National Security Adviser John Bolton said “we’re quite concerned” Russia would interfere in a future U.S. election - say that he didn’t see “any reason why” Russia meddled in 2016.
We saw our president taking the side of Putin over the consensus of our country’s intelligence agencies. “I have great confidence in my intelligence people,“ Trump said when asked who he believed, “but President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
Finally we saw Trump, who attacked our North American and European allies during and after the G7 and NATO summits, eager to shake hands and pat the back of our adversary.
It was disgraceful. It was a betrayal, not only of our intelligence agencies but of everyone who has fought against the threat that Russia poses to the United States and its allies.
We agree with Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who said of Trump’s news conference: “I did not think this was a good moment for our country.” Said Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona: “I never thought I would see the day when our American President would stand on the stage with the Russian President and place blame on the United States for Russian aggression. This is shameful.”
Corker and Flake have something in common: They’re not running for reelection and therefore are less inhibited in criticizing Trump. Some Republicans in Congress were more tepid - Thom Tillis and Richard Burr focused their criticism on Russia and not Trump in statements late Monday. Most Republicans said nothing.
That’s almost as unconscionable. We don’t know if Trump’s performance at Monday’s news conference was a weak attempt at diplomacy or perhaps vanity about his 2016 election victory. We do think it’s reckless to suggest at this point, as Democratic leaders did later Monday, that Russia must have compromising info on our president.
But Donald Trump again gave Vladimir Putin a pass Monday for what amounts to an act of war. It’s time more Republicans started saying so.
This story was originally published July 16, 2018 at 5:56 PM.