Donald Trump has demanded that his upcoming summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin start with a one-on-one meeting. Just Trump, Putin, and presumably at least one translator. Why Trump has demanded this alone time with the “just fine” Putin, is not at all clear. But the possibility that Trump will give away a vital US interest during this meeting is real.
The New York Times has suggested that the face-to-face meeting lends the event “an element of unpredictability and mystery.” They might add the terms “fear” and “loathing.” Also, it gives Trump’s visit to Helsinki the unmistakable air of a traveling salesman reporting to the boss—an impression that is only bolstered by the way that Republican senators scurried to Moscow over the Fourth of July holiday to sit down with Putin’s inner circle. And, mixed in with the attacks on women and immigrants at his Thursday evening Montana rally, Trump salted his talk with praise for Putin and insistence that Putin’s background with the KGB was not an issue.
Trump’s Putin fetish is nothing new. Praise for the autocratic leader is something Trump dished out nonstop during the 2016 campaign. Even as news was first coming out about Russian interference in the election, Trump did not shy away from an exchange of mutual compliments with the Russian autocrat. In recent days, Trump has once again denied that Russia interfered in the election and even challenged the idea that Russian journalists have been killed. This level of defense for Putin going into their meeting seems very much like a sign of weakness and subservience on the part of Trump.
This also isn’t the first time Trump tried to get some alone time with a dictator. That was Trump’s first demand for his talks with Kim Jong Un, where the pair met with just translators and no one else, for nearly half of the entire micro-summit. It’s not even the first time that Trump has gone mano-a-Trump with Putin. When the two met at a Group of 20 meeting in 2017, Trump not only didn’t bring any other US officials to the chat, he did it without even the presence of an American translator.
According to CNN, Trump’s advisors were worried about his going into a meeting with Kim Jong Un on his own. That concern seems to have been well-justified, as Trump emerged from the meeting having handed over at least one of North Korea’s most sought after concessions in return for nothing but a signature on a weak agreement. News that North Korea has continued to improve its capacity for building nuclear weapons and missiles after the Singapore meeting have also added to the impression that Trump wasn’t up to handling these negotiations on his own.
The New York Times has suggested that the face-to-face meeting lends the event “an element of unpredictability and mystery.” They might add the terms “fear” and “loathing.” Also, it gives Trump’s visit to Helsinki the unmistakable air of a traveling salesman reporting to the boss—an impression that is only bolstered by the way that Republican senators scurried to Moscow over the Fourth of July holiday to sit down with Putin’s inner circle. And, mixed in with the attacks on women and immigrants at his Thursday evening Montana rally, Trump salted his talk with praise for Putin and insistence that Putin’s background with the KGB was not an issue.
Trump’s Putin fetish is nothing new. Praise for the autocratic leader is something Trump dished out nonstop during the 2016 campaign. Even as news was first coming out about Russian interference in the election, Trump did not shy away from an exchange of mutual compliments with the Russian autocrat. In recent days, Trump has once again denied that Russia interfered in the election and even challenged the idea that Russian journalists have been killed. This level of defense for Putin going into their meeting seems very much like a sign of weakness and subservience on the part of Trump.
This also isn’t the first time Trump tried to get some alone time with a dictator. That was Trump’s first demand for his talks with Kim Jong Un, where the pair met with just translators and no one else, for nearly half of the entire micro-summit. It’s not even the first time that Trump has gone mano-a-Trump with Putin. When the two met at a Group of 20 meeting in 2017, Trump not only didn’t bring any other US officials to the chat, he did it without even the presence of an American translator.
According to CNN, Trump’s advisors were worried about his going into a meeting with Kim Jong Un on his own. That concern seems to have been well-justified, as Trump emerged from the meeting having handed over at least one of North Korea’s most sought after concessions in return for nothing but a signature on a weak agreement. News that North Korea has continued to improve its capacity for building nuclear weapons and missiles after the Singapore meeting have also added to the impression that Trump wasn’t up to handling these negotiations on his own.
But “Trump got played” is actually the best impression of both his meeting with Kim and past meetings with Putin. Because it’s easy to believe, when Trump is doing everything he can to set the US up for failure, that failure could be the goal. What did Trump and Putin talk about during their extended meeting last year at which there was no US translator? We don’t know. There is no transcript. Nothing to give any official record of what was discussed.
Maybe it was innocuous. Maybe it wasn’t. There is genuinely no way to know. But his willingness to hold a talk in that fashion says enough. It says that Trump is neither concerned about the US position, or about the appearance of his relationship with Putin.
Just that attitude is extremely concerning. Trump has already met privately with Putin, off the record and intends to do so again. Republican senators flew to St. Petersburg for a bit of Russian ballet, then gathered to chat with Putin’s cabinet before flying home in time for a few critical hot dog and fireworks pictures in DC. John Bolton, whose hawkishness has long been frightening to actual hawks, dropped in at Meet the Press to wave off the idea that this confab isn’t a great idea. And no one, but no one, is screaming.
By any objective measure, Donald Trump has already made locked down Russia’s military victory in Syria. His policies have pulled Russia out of economic despair and recharged Putin’s war machine with cash from oil and gas. And, more than anything else, Trump’s actions toward NATO and the G-7 have desperately weakened the US diplomatically, both on a military and economic front. Trump has made a pretense of taking a “tough on Russia” position, but waving a hand toward an increased US military budget (which is still lower than at least two such budgets signed by Barack Obama) doesn’t represent getting tough on Russia when that military is being made explicitly less of a threat to Russian interests.
At the height of the Cold War, the United States had over 400,000 troops positioned in Europe against a potential Soviet threat. Now there are only around 35,000 troops in the region, and almost all of them are positioned not to thwart Russia, or defend NATO allies, but to help support operations in the Middle East. Nations in Eastern Europe are already justly afraid of the level of support they can expect from the United States, and they’re keenly aware both of Russia’s ongoing efforts to disrupt European politics and Russian forces already occupying sections of Ukraine.
Russia is not the implacable military monster that it was built up to be during the Cold War. And in fact, it never was. But Putin is an aggressive opportunist who has demonstrated a keen sense for sniffing out weak positions and a willingness to take actions that redraw boundaries in ways not seen since World War II. It doesn’t take a complicit Donald Trump nodding along with everything Putin suggests for Europe to come up the big loser in this summit. It only takes one bad deal, the kind where Trump gets flattery, and Putin gets something of critical importance. Unfortunately, that seems like the only kind of deal Trump makes.
If Trump agrees to weaken America’s position with NATO, both Europe and the US lose.
If Trump agrees to recognize Russian control of Crimea, both Europe and the US lose.
How bad are things going into this summit? In a normal summit meeting, there would be a discussion of not just “will the US give the official nod on Crimean” but “will Russia withdraw from Ukraine.” And planning for how to deal with Syria. And a pushback on Russian efforts to run natural gas pipelines everywhere, including down the spine of the Korean peninsula. Not only are none of those things likely to be halted, they're unlikely to be discussed. Because the whole game is going to be played at the US end of the field. And Trump ... has some challenges in holding onto the ball.
Trump gave Kim military exercises for nothing. He walked back sanctions against ZTE to please Xi. He values his relationship with dictators far above US interests. What won’t Trump do if Putin asks?"
Maybe it was innocuous. Maybe it wasn’t. There is genuinely no way to know. But his willingness to hold a talk in that fashion says enough. It says that Trump is neither concerned about the US position, or about the appearance of his relationship with Putin.
Just that attitude is extremely concerning. Trump has already met privately with Putin, off the record and intends to do so again. Republican senators flew to St. Petersburg for a bit of Russian ballet, then gathered to chat with Putin’s cabinet before flying home in time for a few critical hot dog and fireworks pictures in DC. John Bolton, whose hawkishness has long been frightening to actual hawks, dropped in at Meet the Press to wave off the idea that this confab isn’t a great idea. And no one, but no one, is screaming.
By any objective measure, Donald Trump has already made locked down Russia’s military victory in Syria. His policies have pulled Russia out of economic despair and recharged Putin’s war machine with cash from oil and gas. And, more than anything else, Trump’s actions toward NATO and the G-7 have desperately weakened the US diplomatically, both on a military and economic front. Trump has made a pretense of taking a “tough on Russia” position, but waving a hand toward an increased US military budget (which is still lower than at least two such budgets signed by Barack Obama) doesn’t represent getting tough on Russia when that military is being made explicitly less of a threat to Russian interests.
At the height of the Cold War, the United States had over 400,000 troops positioned in Europe against a potential Soviet threat. Now there are only around 35,000 troops in the region, and almost all of them are positioned not to thwart Russia, or defend NATO allies, but to help support operations in the Middle East. Nations in Eastern Europe are already justly afraid of the level of support they can expect from the United States, and they’re keenly aware both of Russia’s ongoing efforts to disrupt European politics and Russian forces already occupying sections of Ukraine.
Russia is not the implacable military monster that it was built up to be during the Cold War. And in fact, it never was. But Putin is an aggressive opportunist who has demonstrated a keen sense for sniffing out weak positions and a willingness to take actions that redraw boundaries in ways not seen since World War II. It doesn’t take a complicit Donald Trump nodding along with everything Putin suggests for Europe to come up the big loser in this summit. It only takes one bad deal, the kind where Trump gets flattery, and Putin gets something of critical importance. Unfortunately, that seems like the only kind of deal Trump makes.
If Trump agrees to weaken America’s position with NATO, both Europe and the US lose.
If Trump agrees to recognize Russian control of Crimea, both Europe and the US lose.
How bad are things going into this summit? In a normal summit meeting, there would be a discussion of not just “will the US give the official nod on Crimean” but “will Russia withdraw from Ukraine.” And planning for how to deal with Syria. And a pushback on Russian efforts to run natural gas pipelines everywhere, including down the spine of the Korean peninsula. Not only are none of those things likely to be halted, they're unlikely to be discussed. Because the whole game is going to be played at the US end of the field. And Trump ... has some challenges in holding onto the ball.
Trump gave Kim military exercises for nothing. He walked back sanctions against ZTE to please Xi. He values his relationship with dictators far above US interests. What won’t Trump do if Putin asks?"
Kenneth Stepp did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016, and Kenneth Stepp probably would not vote for Donald Trump now? Why should Trump and Putin have a private conference? Why should the press not be there. Why should not more representatives of the people of America be there? Democracy does not act best in secret. Let the sun shine in to meetings and negotiations. Populism demands more open government. Kenneth
Stepp. Candidate for Congress. KY-05.
No comments:
Post a Comment