Matt Johnson: Trump’s strange loyalty to Putin
Why does the president of the United States trust Vladimir Putin more than American intelligence agencies? This is the question that must make the adults in the Trump administration (H.R. McMaster, James Mattis, etc.) squirm in their sheets at night. But forget about them for a moment. Forget collusion. Forget Robert Mueller. Forget everyone but Trump and Putin. What’s going on between these two men?
As Trump traveled to Hanoi last weekend, he assured us that Putin’s claims about interfering in the 2016 election are entirely trustworthy: “Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. I think he is very insulted by it, which is not a good thing for our country.” So that’s what’s bad for the country? The fact that the authoritarian leader of a hostile foreign power feels “insulted” by substantiated allegations that he tried to subvert our democracy?
Trump’s relationship with Putin would be the stuff of sordid parody if it wasn’t so grotesque (maybe it’ll be funny in a decade or two). Here’s what else Trump said aboard Air Force One last week: “He said he didn’t meddle — I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again. He said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.”
He told me he didn’t do it, so he didn’t do it! Forget about the CIA, FBI and NSA — the leader of a revanchist Russian autocracy (who happens to be a former KGB agent) would never lie to me. Who cares if he has a long record of undermining democracy in Western countries? Who cares if Russia has been waging a constant campaign to generate mass confusion and disillusionment in the United States through propaganda channels like RT and Sputnik News (as well as Facebook and Twitter)? Who cares if Putin is a trained liar who has every incentive to lie about Russian involvement in our election?
From labeling all pro-European Ukrainian protesters “fascists” to his assurances that Russian aircraft are only targeting “terrorists” in Syria to his insistence that the unmarked Russian forces that invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014 weren’t, in fact, Russian forces, there’s no lie Putin won’t tell. That’s why Trump’s mindless acceptance of his claims about the election is such a humiliation and a disgrace.
Speaking of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, here’s what Trump had to say about it two and a half years after it happened: “He’s not going into Ukraine, okay, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, alright? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.” A dumbfounded George Stephanopoulos countered, “Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?” Trump’s response was genuinely remarkable: “Okay, well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He takes Crimea.”
What?
There are so many other examples of Trump’s reflexive support for Putin, but his chat with Stephanopoulos might have been the most revealing. First, there was the absurdly confident assertion that Putin wasn’t going to do something he’d already done. Second, there was the automatic deflection toward the United States — we’re to blame. President Obama is to blame. NATO is to blame. Anyone but the man who ordered his troops to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty, armed the rebels that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (killing all 298 people on board) and continues to do everything in his power to impede Ukraine’s attempts to move closer to the West and away from Russia.
Finally, there was the sheer confusion and incompetence on display in his answer — something Putin has been happy to exploit.
Here’s why I asked you to temporarily avert your attention from the Russia investigation: In many important ways, Trump’s guilt is already undeniable. He’s guilty of defending Putin at every available opportunity. He’s guilty of refusing to punish Russia’s assault on the integrity of our democracy. He’s guilty of failing to strengthen our ability to combat similar attacks in the future. He’s guilty of privileging his selfish political interests — and the interests of a brutal anti-American autocrat — over the interests of the American people.
While we still don’t know if Mueller will present evidence of direct collusion between Trump and Russian operatives, there’s no question that our president is strangely and dangerously loyal to a man who has nothing but contempt for the United States of America.
Contact Matt Johnson at (785) 295-1282 or @mattjj89 on Twitter.