The Subtle Evolution of Trump's Views on Putin and Russia
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Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with President Trump after their joint press conference in Helsinki on July 16th. (Alexei Nikolsky / Sputnik / Kremlin / Pool / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
This is the question that launched a thousand
"Will you [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to stay away from this election? ", the then candidate, Donald Trump, was interviewed on July 27, 2016 during his last press conference on general elections. I will not tell Putin what to do, "Trump replied," Why should I tell Putin what to do? He has already done something today where he said do not blame them, essentially, for your incompetence. "
It was not about Russia, he said – or about China or anyone who had hacked into the Democratic National Committee and sent files to WikiLeaks, which had begun publicly releasing them the previous week
"Why do I have to involve me with Putin? I have nothing to do with Putin. I never spoke to him. I do not know anything about him except that he will respect me, "said Trump, but:" Russia, if you listen, I hope you can find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be well rewarded by our press. Let's see if that happens. It will be next. Yes sir. "
Naturally, this demand for foreign opponents was the focus of attention for good reasons, and last Friday an indictment bearing the signature of Robert S. Mueller III ] alleged that Russian intelligence services had started targeting Hillary Clinton's private email server that day, but Trump's broader comments on Putin that day, however, seem more significant in the wake of his summit with the Russian president this week.It is considered a matter of conventional wisdom that Trump's views on Russia in the broad sense and Putin in particular have been unequivocally positive during his time in politics, but that's not the case. is not quite right … Trump has slowly and subtly evolved into the position he held in July 2016 and demonstrated in Helsinki on Monday, while he has evolved into so many positions which he now adhere stubbornly.
2012-2015: Using Russia as a stick – and Putin as an example
There was a period before the 2012 presidential election when Trump first hit the # 39; idea to press on social media to amplify his political voice. He had been a strong supporter of the Birther movement, delighted by the attention he paid to his false statements about Barack Obama's birthplace. As he was preparing to become president that year, Trump's strategy mirrored that of 2016: a relentless troll targeting liberals and the left.
Putin and Russia were helpful in this regard, especially when Russia seized Crimea. Trump has always portrayed Putin as having no respect for Obama and criticized the president for allowing Russia to overtake the United States. Movement of troops . Edward Snowden . Nuclear Weapons . Each was an example of the Russian threat, Putin's strength and Obama's futility.
"What do you think Obama will do when Putin seizes Alaska?" He asked at one point. The impudence of Russia was the weakness of Obama. "Putin showed the world what happens when America has weak leaders," he tweeted shortly after the annexation of Crimea
"BREAKING NEWS: Obama has just made an exchange with Russia, they are receiving Florida, California and our gold supply, "he wrote a few months later ." We have a borscht and a bottle of vodka. "
This period coincided with the Announces that the Miss Universe contest, then owned by the Trump organization, will be held in Moscow Trump was stunned by the opportunity, at one point wondering on Twitter if Putin was going "to become my new best friend?"
During this period, Trump also claimed to have a relationship with the Russian president. In an interview, shortly before the contest, he told NBC's Thomas Roberts that Putin was "very interested in what we are doing here today." He is probably very interested in what you and I are saying today. And I'm sure he'll see it in some form. "
When he returned to the United States, he bragged about his relationship with the Russian leader. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2014, he linked Putin's respect to his contempt for Obama.
"Putin even sent me a gift, a nice present, with a nice note." I spoke to all his people, "Trump said. "And, you know, you look at what he's doing with President Obama, he's like, playing with him, he's playing with him."
In a May speech he said, "J & I spoke indirectly – and directly – with President Putin, who could not have been nicer. "
2015: Trump exposes his approach to Russia [19659020] When he announced his candidacy for the presidency, Trump used Putin to undermine the Obama administration.
"Even our nuclear arsenal does not work," he said, referring to the report "60 Minutes"
"It came out recently that they have equipment that is 30 years old. do not know if it worked, and I thought it was horrible when it was broadcast on TV, because it sends signals to Putin and all the others who are watching and they say, "C & # Is a group of people, and it's a nation that really has no idea. They do not know what they do. They do not know what they do. "
When Putin subsequently pointed to his country's nuclear arsenal as a sign of Russian force, Trump claimed to be" shocked "by Putin's bravery. Later in the year, Trump said it was "an enigma of a statement to make to him." And it is a statement that is made because of a lack of respect. "
" Putin hates us, he hates Obama today, "he said in a speech in August. "I think he'd appreciate it, I'll hear him well with him I think.No, he has no respect for our president and our president does not like him and often they do not have good chemistry, not to say, would you say, but I get along well with these people. "
Trump was still using Russia after launching his campaign mostly as a example to silence Obama, as when he criticized the Iranian nuclear deal because it allowed the Russians to sell air defense systems to Iran. He also used Russia to hammer American allies, including criticizing Germany for buying natural gas in the country during an interview in August 2015 – a glimpse of rhetoric that he used last week
. his campaign. A few weeks after the start of his campaign, Trump spoke at the Freedomfest in Las Vegas, where a member of the audience asked him a question about Russia and the lifting of sanctions
"I know Putin, and I'll tell you we get along with Putin, "said Trump. "Putin has no respect for President Obama.Great problem, big problem." He claimed that Obama had pushed Russia to ally with China. "I think I will hear very well with Putin, agree?" He added. "And I mean where we have the strength, I do not think you would need sanctions."
The person who was asking the question was Maria Butina, who was charged on Monday by the Justice Department. act as an agent of the Russian government.
the idea that giving free hand to Russia in Syria would be advantageous, reinforcing its anti-war arguments while reinforcing its rhetoric to give to the Islamic State (or, in its preferred language, ISIS) a struggle as hard as possible.
I know that Russia wants to get the ISIS, is not it? ", he asked rhetorically during a speech in September." We want to get ISIS. Russia in Syria, maybe we should let them do it. Let them do it. What the hell are we crazy about? "
" I am very happy if Russia wants to get rid of the Islamic State, "he said on" Morning Joe "next month." Let them do it. It's going to be another quagmire. Syria is going to be another quagmire, just like Iraq, just like Afghanistan. They will be there. And, by the way, the Soviet Union broke out because of Afghanistan. "
When Obama later spoke about working with Russia on the targeting of the Islamic State, Trump took the credit – the airstrikes against ISIS were, I told you …
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2015
Meanwhile, his approach to Putin was more effusive than ever.In this segment "Morning Joe", Trump celebrated "60 Minutes" the Previous week with "my schoolmate Vladimir Putin."
At a Republican primary debate the following month, he pushed this assertion further. "If Putin wants to enter, and I l? I knew very well because we were both at '60 Minutes', we were trustworthy girls, and we did very well that night, "he said. But, you know it. But, if Putin wants to go to the assault of the Islamic State, I am quite for, 100%, and I can not understand how anyone would be against it. "
Trump and Putin were interviewed separately in separate countries for separate segments, a fact that was quickly pointed out, but Trump apparently saw Putin as a way to strengthen the good faith of his foreign relations, something for which he had been criticized in the election campaign.
"Putin does not support Obama, like many people," said Trump, one point, encapsulating his point. (He also admitted that he and Putin had been interviewed separately.)
In one of the most remarkable (and forgotten) moments of this period, Trump proudly declared on Twitter that "Russia and the world has already begun to respect us again! "
Why?" Because a Kremlin propagandist named Konstantin Rykov had created the site Trump2016.ru The site was primarily a stream of social media updates on the Trump campaign.
Primary: The comment "genius"
In December, Putin was interviewed by ABC News, during which he called Trump "colorful." "Talented" and "absolutely the leader of the race "This was the translation of ABC which, according to our factual verifiers, differed from other translations: Bright in the sense of vibrant and colorful, not intelligent.
But Trump's translation was different ., Trump was again on "Morning Joe", where Joe Scarborough and NBC's Willie Geist confronted him with his support for Putin
TRUMP: When people call you "brilliant," it's always good, especially when the person runs Russia.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, I mean, is also a person who kills journalists, political opponents and. .
GEIST: Invades the countries
SCARBOROUGH :. . . and invading countries, obviously that would be a concern, is not it?
TRUMP: He runs his country, and at least he is a leader, unlike what we have in this country.
SCARBOROUGH: But, again: kill journalists who do not agree with him
TRUMP: Well, I think our country is also dead, Joe.
On "Meet the Press", Trump denied hiring Putin. "I did not congratulate him, he congratulated me, he called me brilliant," Trump said. "He said some very nice things about me, I'm sure he's a strong leader, what am I going to say, he's a weak leader? the ground meat of our president He is a strong leader I mean you would like me to call him a weak leader He is a strong leader And I will not be politically correct. "
In a speech in January, Trump's presentation of Putin's words evolved further. "Putin said that Trump is brilliant, he is the real leader," he said. "Now, I do not know if he thinks it, if he does not think so, I'm crazy, I like it, agree? And these characters against which I run, they think I should disavow his statement … I said, why, I will disavow when he says these beautiful things? "
During a debate in early March, the Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) challenged Trump on his praise for Putin.
RUBIO: You expressed admiration for him
TRUMP: False
RUBIO: Donald, you said that he was a strong leader.
TRUMP: Bad … he said some very good things about me. … Let me just tell you, first of all, I've heard this man talk about Putin for so long. Putin said about me – I did not say about Putin – Putin said very good things about me. And I say very well, would not it be nice if we could get along with Russia, we could get along with foreign countries, instead of spending trillions and trillions of dollars?
A week later, in another debate, Trump "Regarding Putin, I think Putin was a very strong leader for Russia.I think he was much stronger than our leader , that I can tell you, "he said. "I mean, for Russia it does not mean that I support Putin … Fort does not mean good, Putin is a strong leader, absolutely, I could name a lot of strong leaders. a lot of very weak leaders, but he is a strong leader, now I do not say that in a good way or in a bad way, I say it as a fact. "
In the proper presentation of Trump's comments, Putin's bestowal has grown.
At first, Trump simply claimed to have been called "brilliant". In March, he told The New York Times that Putin said, "Donald Trump is brilliant and Donald Trump is a true leader, and Donald Trump will be the real leader." In a speech in Redding, California in June, he claimed that Putin's words were "Donald Trump is a genius; he's going to be the next great leader of the United States."
It's often not known where to draw the line between the hyperbole Trump says and the hyperbole Trump believes. Did Trump really think that Putin had said such effusive things about his candidacy? Did he know that he was inflating comments? Or did he really think that Putin – his acquaintance, if not his friend – had congratulated him in such expansive terms?
Mid-2016: Putin becomes a responsibility
Shortly before the beginning of the democratic convention at the end of July, WikiLeaks started to release these stolen emails to the Democratic National Committee. According to Mueller's indictment, WikiLeaks reportedly contacted the identity established by the Russians to control the documents, asking for the possibility of throwing everything just before the convention to promote the "conflict between Bernie and Hillary." ".
At the time, this was seen as an advantage for Trump. Combined with his proven affinity for Putin and reports at the time linking the hacks to Russia, he raised questions about the interaction of WikiLeaks, Russia, Putin and Trump. That's why Trump was questioned about Putin's rejection at the July 27 press conference.
Perhaps because of the response to his request to Russia to post missing emails from Clinton (they had been deleted). Department of State), Trump began to distance himself from the Russian leader.
"[S] he said, Donald Trump loves Putin, I do not know Putin, people, I do not know," said Trump in a speech in Wisconsin. "I hope that I like it, I hope that it will love me because I would like to hear with Russia." I love you, but I do not know. "
Even then, he tempered his comments.
"Donald Trump – Think about it – wants to befriend Putin and other things, she says, is not it?" "And I say to myself, What's wrong with that? It's fine. "
" Putin does not like our president, "he said in Miami a few days later. "Putin has no respect for Obama, would not it be good if we could really get along with Russia, it would not be a decent thing, would not it be nice?"
Yet he acknowledged that the connection with Russia was not really useful. In early October, during the presidential debate, Trump's official Twitter account promoted piecemeal links between Clinton and Russia to weaken his opponent.
During the second presidential debate, he was criticized for his friendship with Russia. "I notice, every time something bad happens, they like to say that the Russians are – she does not know if it's the Russians who are doing piracy." "Maybe it's n & # 39; There is no piracy, but they still blame Russia, "he said. "And the reason they blame Russia, it's because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia, I do not know anything about Russia, I know – I know the Russia, but I do not know anything about the inner workings of Russia, I do not care about that, I do not have any businesses there, I do not have of loans from Russia. "
Then there was the infamous Third Debate.
TRUMP: I do not know Putin. He said good things about me. If we got along well, that would be good. If Russia and the United States were to listen well and take it to ISI, that would be good. He has no respect for her. He has no respect for our president. . .
CLINTON: Well, that's because he prefers to have a puppet as president of the United States.
TRUMP: No puppet. No puppet. Shortly before the election, Trump summed up his answer to questions about Russia in a speech in North Carolina: He had no relationship with Putin or Russia and who knows if WikiLeaks releases – who got up earlier than month after the band "Access Hollywood" was released – was this the result of Russian piracy anyway?
"First of all, I do not know Putin, I have nothing to do with Russia" I said. "And, you know, they like to say every time WikiLeaks comes out, they say it's a conspiracy between Donald Trump and Russia." "Leave me alone." You know, number one, they do not even know That's Russia Who knows It could be Russia, China could be, if you remember Sony, it could be North Korea, it could be a lot of places. 19659076] Then Trump won
The transition: Outreach to Russia
In an interview with the New York Times a few weeks after the elections, Trump again asked if Russia was behind the piracy, suggesting at the same time that his rhetoric about Putin had been validated. [194591] to say, during the campaign, Donald Trump loves Putin, Putin likes Donald Trump, I said, huh, it would not be nice, "he said." I would say that in front of thousands would not it be nice to report what they said, it would not be good if we really got along with Russia, would not it be nice if we went after ISIS together. . . You know that they thought it was wrong to hear with Putin or that I firmly believe that if we can get along with Russia, it's a positive thing. It is a good thing that we can get along not only with Russia but also with other countries.
We now know that in December, Trump's National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, contacted former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak to discuss sanctions being provided by the Obama administration. to punish the country for its interference in the elections. Flynn asks Russia not to respond to sanctions, and Kislyak later tells him that it convinced Putin on the subject
Trump publicly tweeted his eulogy on Putin's response
December 2016 to now: An angry defense
By this time, however, the media were already Diplomats said the Russians had actively interfered in the elections in order to help Trump win the elections.
"Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and we tried to play the Russia / CIA card?" tweeted . "That would be called the conspiracy theory!"
The Democrats, including Clinton, were just showing green grapes. He tweeted a quote from Putin on this point
The intelligence agencies (then still under the leadership of Obama) have prepared a classified report documenting the evidence of the Russian interference. Trump expressed his skepticism implying that the evidence was being manufactured.
Two weeks before his inauguration, he received the evaluation and, at a press conference a few days later, he offered one of his rare "With regard to piracy, I think that it was Russia, "he said. "But I think we have also been hacked by other countries and other people."
He noted, however, that "President Putin and Russia issued a statement today that these false news were indeed false news." They said that this never really happened. past. "
He continued," Now, someone would say, "Oh, sure, he'll say that." I respected the fact that he said that. "
Trump continued to defend Putin while claiming that the investigation was unfounded. He told the Australian prime minister that his appeal with Putin had been much more enjoyable, according to a falsified transcript. In an interview with Bill O'Reilly, then Fox News, Trump defended Putin's record of killing political opponents.
"There are a lot of killers," said Trump. "Do you think our country is so innocent?"
In March, despite the objections of his advisers, Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election as president despite international outrage over the poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer on the ground British. I am not for Russia. I am for the United States, "he said last month, defending his proposal to readmit Russia to the group of G-7 countries." But for example, if Vladimir Putin was sitting in next to me today instead of one of the others and that we were having dinner the other night in Canada, I could say that you would do me a favor? Do you want to get out of Syria? Can you do me a favor? Would you go out of Ukraine?
Sometimes, however, Trump also publicly criticized Putin and Russia.In April of last year, he said Putin's support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad that Putin "supported a person who is really a diabolical person and I think it's very bad for Russia. "
" Do not go and turn that animal around, you'd have no problem right now ", has asserted Trump of Assad. "He was going to be upset. I thought he was gone. He had another week. I mean, he was done, he had nothing. Nothing. And then Russia came to save him and then Obama made one of the worst history deals with Iran, so you really have Iran and you have Russia and you have Assad. "
He offered the same criticism before hitting Syria for the second time this year.
" In 2013, President Putin and his government promised the world that they would guarantee the elimination Syrian chemical weapons. The recent Assad attack, and today 's response, are a direct result of Russia' s failure to keep that promise, "he said. "Russia must decide whether it will continue on this dark path, or whether it will join the civilized nations as a force for stability and peace." On Twitter, he says Russia and the Iran are "responsible Assad.
Mainly, however, Trump's comment about Putin and Russia was to denigrate the investigation in familiar terms: "false news" and a "witch hunt." "That sped up last May with the appointment Mueller and, last July, when the news of Donald Trump Jr. spoke with a Kremlin lawyer at Trump Tower.
When this lawyer acknowledged having connections with the government earlier this year, Trump gave a reason for this sudden revelation: "Do you know why she did that? Because Putin and the group said you know that Trump is killing us. Why do not you say that you are involved in government so that we can make their lives in the United States even more chaotic?
This is how Trump tried to defend himself against a growing question about his relationship with Putin: He's a lot harder than anyone else's In Russia
At a press conference in April, Trump said that "no one has been as tough in Russia as me." exports, a stronger army, the expulsion of Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of this former Russian agent.
"I was the worst nightmare of Russia," he said in June. "If Hillary came in, I'd think Putin is probably going to" Man, I wish Hillary won "because you see what I'm doing."
On Monday, Putin was asked directly if he had wanted Trump to win in 2016 and he had ordered officials to help him win.
"Yes, I did … Yes, I did it," replied Putin. "Because he talked about bringing the relationship between the United States and Russia back to normal."
