Analysis: Russia understands Trump's utility even if the former president would like to pretend it doesn't
One moment of honesty came in July 2018, as Trump was preparing to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Finland. During a stop in Belgium to meet with members of NATO — whom Trump publicly chastised, in keeping with his tradition — the president“Somebody was saying, is he an enemy? He’s notenemy,” Trump said. “Is he a friend? No, I don’t know him well enough. But the couple of times I’ve gotten to meet him, we get along very well.”“He’s representing Russia.
This is, in fact, how Trump viewed Putin. Sure, Russia aimed to undermine the stability of the United States, as manifested in part through its efforts on behalf of Trump’s election in 2016. But despite that — or, cynics might wonder, potentially thanks to that — Trump was unwilling to assume the worst about Putin. Putin was America’s enemy, sure, but he wasn’t Trump’s enemy, and that made all the difference in the world.
That was amplified when, at the heart of the impeachment effort that followed his Ukraine interactions, Trump publicly asked China to release any derogatory information it might have on Biden, his expected 2020 opponent. Months prior, his national security adviser John BoltonTrump asking Chinese President Xi Jinping to aid his reelection bid by buying more American agricultural products.
The predicate for that request is important. Xi had been complaining about American critics of China, and Trump, Bolton writes, “immediately assumed Xi meant the Democrats.” This is not a fair assumption, of course, as members of Trump’s party have to demonstrate. But it reveals Trump’s expectation: China would work with him against their shared enemy, America’s political left.This is the through line. Russia damaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016. Trump wanted Ukraine to derail Biden. Trump saw opportunity in what he understood to be Chinese annoyance with Democrats. The enemy of his political enemy was his ally.
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