Trump to Putin: No Matter the Issues or Circumstances We Will Always See Eye-to-Eye (Конечно)

Vlad, do you like this latest post title

(“Конечно = of course”)

Trump often brags about being “tougher on Russia” than anyone before and many around him in the W/H push that same line like Press Secretary McEnany has done (short video here). 

I say BS based on several foreign policy issues alone that follow.

Foreign policy overall, and Trump's warm tone toward Putin, has been a running point of contention between GOP lawmakers and him dating back to his days even as a candidate, when he put an isolationist foreign policy at the center of his 2016 messaging strategy.

Now since winning the White House, some of the biggest points of division between him and the GOP have been over foreign policy. For example:

In 2017, Congress passed Russian sanctions measure over his objection.

Two years later, the Senate included a rebuke, crafted by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), of Trump's Syria policy into a broader piece of legislation.

The GOP-run Senate also voted multiple times to block part of Trump's arms sales to Saudi Arabia, forcing him to issue vetoes.

Recently, Republican senators have been trying to use a mammoth defense bill to limit Trump's ability to remove U.S. troops from Germany (that he is pushing – apparently to appease Putin in that area, too). 

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have all filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to prohibit the administration from reducing the number of active-duty troops in Germany below 34,500 unless the Pentagon can meet several certifications that include making sure those reductions is in the national security interest of the United States and would not negatively undermine European alliances or NATO.

Now more recently, Trump has also floated a move to try invite Russia back into the G-7 after it was ousted from the then G-8 after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and for supporting pro-Kremlin separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Mitch McConnell sidestepped questions about Trump's knowledge of the recent reports on Russian bounties on Americans in Afghanistan but then said: “I would absolutely not be surprised if it were true. They are trying to create a problem for us everywhere.”

Then he was asked if Trump should invite Russia back into to the G-7, he said bluntly: “Absolutely not.”

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A contrast look back at Trump’s words vs. his policies vis-à-vis Russia and being the “toughest ever” on them here from NPR with my notes to fit the blog from their summit in Helsinki in July 2018:

President Trump is in the process of inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to Washington, D.C., this fall to continue the talks they started in Helsinki earlier this week. 

It's another sign of Trump's efforts to build closer ties with Moscow, even though he insists his administration has taken a hard line toward Russia. 

Trump told reporters: “There's never been a president as tough on Russia as I have been.” 

Actually there is some basis for the president's boast as stated here from Daniel Vajdich, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council – here is some interesting juicy background on Vajdick from Politico:

His assessment of this subject: “When you actually look at the substance of what this administration has done, not the rhetoric but the substance, this administration has been much tougher on Russia than any in the post-Cold War era.”

Military spending: Trump sought to add $1.4 billion for fiscal year 2018 to the European Deterrence Initiative — a military effort to deter Russian aggression that was initially known as the European Reassurance Initiative. That's a 41 percent increase from the last year of the Obama administration.

The president also agreed to send lethal weapons to Ukraine — a step that Obama resisted. And Trump gave U.S. forces in Syria more leeway to engage with Russian troops.

Further note on that part: The Washington Post reported Trump was irritated that the U.S. seemed to be taking stronger actions against Moscow than the Europeans were. 

Then he was also reportedly reluctant to send those lethal weapons to Ukraine, arguing again that Europe should take the lead.

Vajdich also said: “Those loosened rules of engagement have resulted in direct military clashes with Russian militants and mercenaries on the ground, actually resulting in one incident in hundreds of casualties on the Russian side.”

The administration has also imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian oligarchs and government officials. And Trump has aggressively promoted U.S. energy exports, although so far that hasn't created much competition for Russia's oil and gas.

From Ed Chow, who studies energy and national security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said: “Russian gas sales to Europe last year were at record levels. Russians will always have a cost advantage. And if they want to protect market share, all they have to do is lower the price.”

The Contrast: Whatever tough policies Trump may have adopted toward Moscow also have to be weighed against Trump's rhetoric, which is consistently friendly to Putin.

Trump as noted many times before has suggested inviting Russia back to rejoin the G-7, the former G-8 group Moscow was suspended from following the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Note: Trump also congratulated Putin on his re-election victory (in March 2018), despite explicit instructions from his advisers not to issue it. 

BTW: Putin recently got the Russian constitution changed that will allow him to stay in office until 2036 with voting many have said was corrupt and fixed for him (wow, does that sound like any we know?

As noted by Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security and former national security adviser to the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ): “There's a real disconnect between Trump’s words and the underlying policy and all. And Trump has no qualms about criticizing leaders of allied countries like Germany's Angela Merkel, Canada's Justin Trudeau, or the U.K.'s Theresa May, as he almost always treats Putin with kid gloves. The president very rarely speaks about Putin's transgressions and when asked about them expresses the hope that everyone can get along.”

In July 2018, Trump told reporters in the UK: “If we could develop a relationship which is good for Russia, good for us, good for everybody that would be great.”  He went on to remind UK PM May how he agreed to expel 60 Russians — diplomats and suspected intelligence agents — last year in retaliation for the suspected poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain, and that Germany did only three.”

My 2 cents: Not much to add to this post – very much documented evidence that speaks for itself.

Thanks for stopping by.