Vladimir Putin tried to help
Donald Trump win the presidency. As president, Trump is helping Putin achieve a top strategic goal.
And the question is: Why?
Republican Sen.
Jeff Flake of Arizona flatly rejected Trump's idea, which Republican Gov.
John Kasich of Ohio said "does not protect or defend the national security interests of the United States or our allies." Others cast Trump's unusual battles with historic friends while reaching out to an existential historic enemy as part of a corrupt bargain that put him in the White House in the first place.
"This transatlantic rift is a gift to Russia that amply repays Vladimir Putin's investment in helping the Trump campaign," wrote the conservative foreign policy expert Max Boot.
Former aides to President Barack Obama spoke out just as bluntly.
"If Putin were giving Trump instructions, it's hard to imagine how he could do more damage to America's alliance and global leadership than Trump has already done," ex-national security advisor Susan Rice said on Twitter.
"He doesn't even try not to seem like the Manchurian candidate," tweeted Samantha Power, Obama's former ambassador to the United Nations.
"Trump picks fights with our allies and bends over backward to appease Putin," noted former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. "Why?"
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/08/trump-is-helping-putin-with-a-key-goal-when-he-spurns-us-allies.html