“Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world. It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.”
Trump tonight touted that our allies can trust us and that American will be strong under his “robust” leadership. But Trump won’t even stand up to his buddy Vladimir Putin.
American Bridge President Jessica Mackler issued the following statement on Trump’s continued coddling of Putin and refusal to acknowledge his campaign’s reported contact with Russia during the presidential campaign:
“You know you’re in real trouble when corrupt D.C. swamp-dweller Newt Gingrich says an independent investigation is needed to look into you and your campaign’s Russia ties. Amid intelligence reports that Russia sought to help Trump get elected, and that his own campaign was in contact with the Russian government during the election, Trump chooses not to condemn Putin but to attack the United States intelligence community and American reporters; a hallmark of the strongmen dictators he so admires.”
Background:
Trump White House Pushed Intelligence Community To Spin Russia Reports
HEADLINE: Trump administration sought to enlist intelligence officials, key lawmakers to counter Russia stories [Washington Post, 2/24/17]
HEADLINE: FBI refused White House request to knock down recent Trump-Russia stories [CNN, 2/24/17]
HEADLINE: FBI refused White House request to refute story on Trump-Russia link [USA Today, 2/24/17]
Trump NSA Mike Flynn Lied To The FBI About Discussing Sanctions With Russia
HEADLINE: Flynn in FBI interview denied discussing sanctions with Russian ambassador [Washington Post, 2/16/17]
Russia Sought Material To Blackmail Trump
HEADLINE: CNN: Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him [CNN, 1/12/17]
During The Campaign, Trump Asked Russia To Conduct Cyber Espionage In The U.S.
Trump: “Russia, If You’re Listening, I Hope You’re Able To Find The 30,000 Emails That Are Missing” [Trump Press Conference, Doral, FL, 5/27/16]
Twelve Times Trump Has Bragged About Talking To Putin
Trump On Putin: “I Met Him Once.” “David Letterman: Vladimir Putin, ever met the guy? Donald Trump: Tough guy. I met him once.” [“The Late Show,” CBS, 10/17/13]
Trump: “I’ve Done A Lot Of Business With The Russians.” [“The Late Show,” CBS, 10/17/13]
Trump On Putin: “I Do Have A Relationship With [Putin].” “Thomas Roberts: Do you have a relationship with Vladimir Putin? A conversational relationship or anything that you feel you have sway or influence over his government? Donald Trump; I do have a relationship and I can tell you that he’s very interested in what we’re doing here today. He’s probably very interested in what you and I are saying today, and I’m sure he’s going to be seeing it in some form, but I do have a relationship with him and I think it’s very interesting to see what’s happened.” [“Live with Thomas Roberts,” MSNBC, 11/11/13]
Trump On Putin: In 2013 “When I Want To Russia With The Miss Universe Pageant, He Contacted Me And Was So Nice.” “When I want to Russia with the Miss Universe pageant, [Putin] contacted me and was so nice. I mean, the Russian people were so fantastic to us. I just say this, they are doing – they’re outsmarting us at every turn as we all understand. I mean, their leaders are, whether you call them smarter or more cunning or whatever, but they’re outsmarting us. If you look at Syria or other places, they’re outsmarting us.” [“Fox and Friends,” Fox News, 2/10/14]
Trump Said That On A Trip To Moscow “Putin Even Sent Me A Present” And “I Spoke To All Of His People.” “Russia and Putin – I was in Moscow a couple of months ago. I own the Miss Universe pageant and they treated me so great. Putin even sent me a present, a beautiful present with a beautiful note. I spoke to all of his people. If you look at what he’s doing with President Obama, he’s like toying with him. He’s toying with him.” [Donald Trump, CPAC, National Harbor, MD, 3/6/14]
Trump On Putin: “We Just Left Moscow. [Putin] Could Not Have Been Nicer. He Was So Nice And So Everything.” “Interestingly, I own the Miss Universe pageant. We just left Moscow. He could not have been nicer. He was so nice and so everything. But you have to give him credit that what he’s doing for that country in terms of their world prestige is very strong.” [“Cashin In,” Fox News, 4/12/14]
Trump: “I Was In Moscow Recently And I Spoke, Indirectly And Directly, With President Putin.” “Russia does not respect our country any longer. They see we’ve been greatly weakened, both militarily and otherwise, and he certainly does not respect President Obama. So what I would do—as an example, I own Miss Universe, I was in Russia, I was in Moscow recently and I spoke, indirectly and directly, with President Putin, who could not have been nicer, and we had a tremendous success. The show was live from Moscow and we had tremendous success there and it was amazing, but to do well, you have to get the other side to respect you, and he does not respect our president, which is very sad.” [Donald Trump, National Press Club Luncheon, Washington, DC, 5/27/14]
Trump Claimed To Have Met Vladimir Putin “We got a long great” “Michael Savage: Have you ever met Vladimir Putin? Donald Trump: Yes. Savage: You have? Trump: Yes, a long time ago. We got a long great, by the way.” [Savage Nation, 10/6/15]
Trump Said He Got To Know Vladimir Putin “Very Well, Because We Were Both On 60 Minutes, We Were Stable Mates.” “I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes, we were stablemates, and we did very well that night.” [Donald Trump, Fox Business Debate, Milwaukee, WI, 11/10/15]
Trump: “The Biggest Thing We Have Is That We Were On 60 Minutes Together And We Had Fantastic Ratings.” “No, I think the biggest thing we have is that we were on ‘60 Minutes’ together, and we had fantastic ratings, one of your best rated shows in a long time. So, that was good, right? So, we were stable mates.” [“Face the Nation,” CBS, 10/11/15]
Trump On Whether He Spoke To Putin While In Moscow For Miss Universe: “I Got To Meet A Lot Of People.” “Baier: OK. So we can say you talked to him. Trump: No. I got to meet a lot of people. And you know what? They want to be friendly with the United States. Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with somebody?” [“Special Report,” Fox News, 5/5/16]
Trump “[Putin] Called Me On The Election…And He Called Me On The Inauguration.” “Question: Can you just say yes or no? Trump: Russia is a ruse. I know you have to get up and ask a question. It’s so important. Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven’t made a phone call to Russia in years. Don’t speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn’t. I just have nobody to speak to. I spoke to Putin twice. He called me on the election. I told you this. And he called me on the inauguration, a few days ago. We had a very good talk, especially the second one, lasted for a pretty long period of time. I’m sure you probably get it because it was classified. So I’m sure everybody in this room perhaps has it. But we had a very, very good talk. I have nothing to do with Russia. To the best of my knowledge no person that I deal with does. Now, Manafort has totally denied it. He denied it. Now people knew that he was a consultant over in that part of the world for a while, but not for Russia. I think he represented Ukraine or people having to do with Ukraine, or people that — whoever. But people knew that. Everybody knew that.” [Donald Trump, Press Conference, Washington, DC, 2/16/17]
Published: Feb 28, 2017