“Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to U.S. national security. He is refusing to protect U.S. interest from Russian attacks. It is apparent he is, for some unknown reason, under the sway of Mr. Putin,” said Gen. Barry McCaffrey, March 16, 2018.
Gen. McCaffrey is a highly decorated four-star general. What unknown reason? Many commentators suggest that Vladimir Putin is holding something over Trump’s head — something stemming from Trump’s visit to Moscow long before he ran for president. Maybe so. The proof’s in the pudding, as they say.
Here’s some pudding for you, as reported by the media. Have a taste.
There was an attempt by the Trump Organization to borrow money from a sanctioned Russia bank during the 2016 campaign, while Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was attempting to borrow money all over the world. That stinks to high heaven. Perhaps political pudding stinks.
There were secret meetings, while Obama was still president, mind you, between Trump’s operatives, even family members, and the Russians, to discuss lifting the sanctions Obama had imposed on Russia for actions in Ukraine. Totally inappropriate.
Our intelligence community concluded that on orders from Putin, Russia meddled in our election to help Trump. Trump refused to accept their findings for over a year, saying it might have been Russia, or China or any other country, adding “I’ve talked to Putin and he denies it.” Trump was taking the word of Putin over United States intelligence agents. Why? Even now Trump vacillates.
In May 2017, Trump had a jovial meeting with the Russian Ambassador and Foreign Minister in the Oval Office. American journalists were excluded.
It was learned from the Russian press that during the meeting, for some ungodly reason, Trump revealed highly classified information, jeopardizing a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State, thereby making us less safe.
Incredibly, for months Trump refused to enforce sanctions imposed on Russia, almost unanimously, by Congress for hacking into the DNC and meddling in our 2016 election.
Recently, Putin went on television and announced that our defense systems would no longer be effective against Russian missiles. He even produced an animated video of Russian missiles heading for Florida.
The president said nothing. You would have thought he would have at least reassured the American people that we are safe from any Russian attack, as any president during my lifetime would have done.
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Theresa May expelled 23 so-called Russian diplomats and condemned Russia in the harshest manner for the murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter living in the U.K. Our president personally said nothing. Even when it was revealed that in the murders Russia had used a warfare banned nerve agent they developed in the Cold War, our president said nothing. A response to something like this shouldn’t be left to others in the Trump administration. The president himself should have responded immediately in the same manner as the U.K.’s prime minister. He might yet, but it’s a little late.
Apparently Russia has murdered another Russian living in London who was aligned with a Putin critic.
It has been reported that several inside the Kremlin have leaked that when President Trump was considering Mitt Romney for Secretary of State, Putin let Trump know that Romney was not acceptable. Trump then appointed Rex Tillerson, who was doing business in Russia and close to Putin. Tillerson proved to be incompetent in many people’s eyes. After blasting Russia for the U.K. murders, he was fired unceremoniously by Trump, supposedly because of differences concerning Iran. Gosh almighty, does Putin have veto power over the president’s cabinet picks? That would certainly be evidence that Putin has something on Trump.
Here’s another inexplicable position of President Trump. He condemns Iran for spreading turmoil all over the Middle East, and North Korea for being a bad actor. Both are members of the axis of evil. So what does Trump say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, its support for Syria’s very evil dictator Assad, or its meddling in the elections and politics in democratic countries all over the world? Hardly a word.
Although advised against it, Trump called to congratulate Putin on winning an undemocratic election.
When you throw everything reported into the pudding, it’s pretty damning for the president. Gen. McCaffrey is right. Trump’s behavior regarding Putin is suspicious and dangerous. Maybe Putin actually has something he is holding over Trump. There’s enough proof in the pudding to suggest something of the sort.
“The presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are,” Michelle Obama said.
Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.