CNN
'A gas station parading as a country'
Four years on, Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia is becoming even more of an impenetrable riddle.
Yet again, the US President appears to be working to further Moscow’s interests before those of his own nation. This weekend, he dismissed national security aides’ assertions that Russia engineered the worst-ever cyber attack on US government servers, and tweeted without evidence that the hack could have been China’s work or a media fantasy.
A measured response to Russia’s alleged action could make sense if the US were already engaged in its own covert retaliation. Outgoing administrations generally try to avoid aggressive moves that narrow options for a successor White House — though that’s hardly been Trump’s M.O. so far.
Trump’s
attempt at absolution by tweet is the most notable example of his
deeply strange attitude towards Russia. He previously pooh-poohed
assessments that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, which defenders
framed as a defense of his own electoral victory's legitimacy. But this
time, there’s no clear personal motive for him to shield Russia from
hacking accusations.
Contrary to the White House claim that no President has been tougher on Moscow than Trump, the President’s geopolitical moves in the Middle East and Europe have often seemed closer to Russia’s goals than America’s own. He has constantly undermined NATO and only sanctioned Moscow when shamed into doing so by Congress and foreign allies. The question never satisfactorily answered in four years of Trump’s presidency is: Why?
Does Putin have some kind of spell over Trump, whose admiration for autocrats is well-established? Is Trump’s business in hock to Russian financiers? Does the Kremlin have compromising personal information? Or is Trump simply too proud to admit he’s
No comments:
Post a Comment