Trump-Putin: All Things Considered
Senate Democrats advised President Trump to cancel the Helsinki meeting with Vladimir Putin - after 12 Russians were indicted for election meddling. After Trump's meeting with Putin, there was an immediate bipartisan beat-down, and some Democrats suggested Putin had kompromat on the president, such as proof of a quid pro quo conspiracy to defeat Hillary Clinton. Perhaps, but the Mueller investigation will determine if there was a Trump-Russia conspiracy and Americans are still entitled to a presumption of innocence. The real issue after Helsinki is whether Trump is making America safe for democracy - or not.
Since Helsinki, we still have only an inkling of what Trump said to Putin in private, but we have heard Trump's bumbling comments at the joint press conference. Even the ever-loyal Newt Gingrich panned Trump for “the most serious mistake of his presidency.” The president fumbled a question about Russian election meddling, drifting off into a vague diatribe about the “FBI never [taking] the [DNC] server [or] the servers of the Pakistani gentlemen,” and things went down from there. Trump actually asked his Russian counterpart for a life line: “President Putin may very well want to address it, and very strongly.” The optics were so bad Obama’s former CIA director, John Brennan, tweeted, “[Trump’s comments] were nothing short of treasonous [and exceeded] the threshold of high crimes and misdemeanors.” Ouch!
Fortunately, the tincture of time will heal our national embarrassment. Already, Trump has blamed a double-negative syntactical error (as if anyone will believe that), Sarah Sanders has confirmed Putin agreed to help denuclearize North Korea (corroborating what both leaders said separately to Fox News), and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reassured the senate he had debriefed the president - even though he would not disclose the content of the Trump-Putin conversation. How likely is it, then, that Trump is Putin's poodle?
Most Americans agree with Senators McCain and Graham that Trump often sounds weak on Russia, but reject any presumption of guilt until Bob Mueller concludes his investigation. If Trump is really a Russian agent (anything's possible), then even Republicans will shout, "lock him up!" Until Mueller comes forth with convincing evidence (other than a technical violation of the never-enforced Logan Act), Democrats should simmer down and focus on preventing a new nuclear arms race. When Russia could easily arm Iran with nuclear weapons, should Democrats persist with the Trump-Putin conspiracy narrative? Maybe.
Democrats don't want to run against a strong economy, and the Trump-Russia collusion story can peel off some moderate voters for the 2018 and 2020 elections. Trump's behavior really does frighten established Democrats and Republicans, who believe he should articulate a strategic case for engaging Putin to fight mutual adversaries and avoid off-script ramblings that create confusion at home and abroad. Trump conspiracies abound because his diplomacy is unorthodox and his facts are often wrong, and Obama-Clinton Democrats dislike the man who repeatedly reminds Americans the Obama team created the problem.
It is possible Obama's former team is engaged in a cover-up. The Russian election meddling did take place on their watch, and Congress is digging into allegations of their Russian collusion. Politics aside, the anti-American despot (Putin) with nuclear weapons did become a bigger problem in the years leading up to Trump’s presidency, and a responsible successor must do whatever is necessary to correct what was left undone by his predecessor. Is this what Trump is doing - because he says Putin can pressure Kim Jong-un into giving up his nuclear arsenal and help the US win the war against Islamic terror?
Trump also says continuing the election-meddling conversation with Putin serves no strategic purpose: why fly across the Atlantic to insult the Russian leader? To be sure, Trump can privately believe Putin is an enemy without publicly saying so. Candidate Trump was critical of politicians who tipped America's hand to its foes, and promised not to do so. It can also be reasonably argued Trump is now taking “a political risk in pursuit of peace” because George soul-whispering Bush and Barack re-set button Obama failed. Candidate Trump did promise a new approach (“it would be nice if we got along”). As the great cold warrior Donald Rumsfeld observed: presidents must negotiate with the foreign leaders they have and not the leaders they might want.
It can also be reasonably argued Trump's foggy policy positions and verbal grenades are effective. NATO allies really are spending $41 billion more to defend the free world against Russia. The Rocket Man really did stop firing missiles over Japan and really did send the remains of American soldiers home. Oh, and Crooked Hillary really did lose. Trump really was elected president and really is empowered to originate his own diplomatic approach, meaning he can reject insults and isolation as a means to subjugate Putin.
Newt Gingrich still stands by his original criticism, but wants Washington to hold Trump’s actions as the true test of his patriotism (or treason). To this end, President Trump has upheld, imposed or increased sanctions against Russia and Russian individuals on three separate occasions. He has closed Russian diplomatic properties suspected of surveilling in Washington, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. He expelled 60 diplomats after Russia was suspected of carrying out a nerve-agent attack on British soil. This is routine geopolitical posturing, in line with 16 years of Bush and Obama doctrine.
The president has also supplied lethal offensive weapons to Ukraine, which even the Washington Post confessed would “complicate President Trump’s stated ambition to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin.” He advised European allies to deny Putin oil profits and control over their energy - promising America would meet the EU's energy demands - and continuously urged NATO countries to invest more to defend against their charter enemy, Russia. President Trump seems an effective cold warrior: NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg admitted European defense spending is up because of Trump’s “leadership” and “carried message,” and EU Commission President Juncker promised Wednesday the EU will buy liquified gas from the US.
Mike Pompeo reminded Congress Trump sees Russia as a foe. After the USA, Russia controls the next most nuclear weapons. START expires in three years, and Russia has developed an indefensible hypersonic nuclear missile. Above all, Putin told Trump in Helsinki the planned NATO missile-defense shield on his western border is a clear-and-present threat to Mother Russia. The clock is ticking.
In 1954, Winston Churchill told legislators at a White House luncheon, “meeting jaw to jaw is better than war” (source: Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill). He was defending a conference with the Soviet Union. Have Senators Corker (R-TN) and Menendez (D-NJ) forgotten President Roosevelt allied with Joseph evil thug Stalin because Nazism was the greater global threat? In a turn of the tables, Democrats are today’s domino theorists, who sound willing to send America's youth to war to make Crimea safe for democracy. Didn't the Vietnam War disprove that theory at a cost of 58,220 American lives? The USA is now threatened by foes with nuclear missiles and Islamic terror attacks. The president is right to look forward, making Americans safe and ensuring meddle-free elections in 2018. And that's the last word.