Trump made a mess, but it was not an accident – and he will not clean it up

AMSTERDAM – President Donald Trump blew it up for the United States and its allies, but it is unlikely to repair the mess he made

he even blames some loyalists for rallying to Russian President Vladimir Putin, choosing not to hold Putin responsible for Russia's attacks in his backyard and in West, and generally asking the NATO countries to go and defend themselves.

Another American president returned from a trip abroad after being so aggressively dismissed from the advice of the bipartisan foreign policy establishment and even from his own advisers [19659004] But do not expect Trump to come back just because he is told he is acting not only outside American interests but against them.

In his own mind he did not deceive himself. Trump, who called the EU "enemy" just before meeting Putin in Helsinki on Monday, takes the United States in a different direction – explicitly pro-Moscow, anti-European –

. it disrupts the world order in the name of nuclear harmony with Russia and the hegemony of the superpowers in the coming weeks.

It's a terrifying thought for most US foreign policy experts, who view Russia as a threat in part. Putin's Perception of Power

Trump could have penetrated Brussels and strengthened US relations with NATO. Instead, he punched his American allies

. He could have unambiguously supported British Prime Minister Theresa May by fully endorsing the "soft" Brexit plan that torments her conservative party. But he also hammered it before he left for his departure.

And he could have told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the United States would not do business with him until Russia recognized his role in the 2016 US elections. He could have done so. shame Putin on the world stage and put Moscow on his heels.

Instead, Trump drew lines of moral equivalence and power between America and Russia. , the main historical geopolitical adversary of his country. He did it abroad, standing next to Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he strengthened his defense of Moscow by detonating the Americans on Russian corruption investigations.

From his point of view, the trip was a victory

He served his interests, to discredit the Russian probe to liberal democratic fracture. alliance that has maintained peace in Europe since the Second World War in the service of promoting its brand of conservative nationalism abroad.

But his actions were at the expense of American interests, according to Democrats and many Republicans

. There is no doubt that Russia has interfered in our election and continues to undermine democracy here and around the world, "said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis, in a statement." The President must understand that Russia is not our ally. There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most fundamental values ​​and ideals. "

In other words, the Republican speaker argued that the Republican President does not understand what he does.It is a forgiving interpretation of what the President, who s'. is on the side of Putin in relation to his own national intelligence director, made to the credibility of his country and intelligence community

exactly what he was doing – that for one reason or another, whether it is a desire to destroy the liberal democratic model of the West, a reward for Putin's help in making him president or pure admiration for the strong man and his nation, Trump wanted to empower Moscow

Whatever his motivation, Trump sparked a cavalcade of criticism from lawmakers and Republican foreign policy experts.

But nothing says publicans will take serious steps to control a president of their own party.

We have been here before.

Trump is doing something so indefensible that his faithful Republican allies publicly criticize him for distancing himself from the action, and the part of Americans who do not consider themselves part of Trump's base wonders when, if ever, it will definitely cost him the support of the GOP.

Many Republicans who stifled his behavior in the past have denounced his behavior at the top. Putin, acknowledging that it compromises US security by encouraging Moscow to continue its information warfare campaign and cyberattacks against the United States

Yet, much of the indignation is came from longtime Trump critics in the GOP – including Sens. McCain from Arizona and Bob Corker from Tennessee – and there have been few organized thrusts to circumscribe Trump.

This cycle was played in st., Especially when Trump's video extolling badually badaulted women surfaced a month before the 2016 election and when Trump said the "two sides" were at fault when a rally of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, was deadly last year. When many of Trump's Republican allies repudiated him on the "Access Hollywood" band, his foreign supporters with ties to Moscow – namely Julian Assange's Wikileaks – began sending stolen emails to Hillary's campaign president. Clinton, John Podesta.

While some Republicans threatened to abandon Trump on the tape, most of them quickly returned to the fold to elect their candidate.

The GOP's discomfort over Charlottesville's remarks extinguished quickly, overtaken by Trump's approval. push to confirm conservative judges, cut out Obamacare and cut taxes.

Could this controversy unfold differently? Maybe in the short-term margin – but not in a sustainable way that would really contradict Trump's view that Russian and US interests are more aligned than members of Congress and foreign policy makers believe. .

Dan Coats and Jon Huntsman, his national director of intelligence and the Russian ambbadador, respectively, could resign. They were both publicly humiliated by the Donald-and-Vlad show in Helsinki – so much so that one of the Huntsman girls, Abby Huntsman, criticized Trump for throwing members of his own administration "under the bus."

could, as it has already done, defy Trump and adopt a new set of sanctions against Russia.

But this is not really a deterrent for Trump, who has shown no shame at the rhetorical and legislative reproaches of Republican lawmakers. 19659004] It simply has a different view of US interests than they claim, and, because they share voters, it can cause them trouble at home if they actually get into trouble. through their path.

It is that they will say that they are indignant – and maybe on the edges, they will counter his Russian policy – but nothing indicates that they will take it to task to raise Russia and give Moscow permission to continue manipulating the US elections. [19659004] The summit was a victory for Putin, says Corker.

"I think he's won a lot." I mean here was ostracized on the world stage.You know, as many difficulties as Europe right now, one thing they stayed on Together continues to push the rules, the international standards that he has broken into Eastern Europe, Ukraine and Crimea, "he said. "I guess he's having caviar right now."

Trump seems content with that. And there is little reason to think that anyone will force him to change course.