The reality is that Trump has failed to criticize Putin or hold Russia accountable for its actions. Instead, he frequently praises him and takes his word over that of American intelligence professionals.
Trump claims he has been tough on Russia, but the reality is different. While it is true that the US has increased sanctions on Russia, this has occurred more in spite of the president than because of him. Last year, when Congress overwhelmingly voted to tighten sanctions, Trump sat on the bill for days. His aides reportedly had to convince him to sign it. After Russian nationals tried to poison and kill a Russian dissident in the UK, European nations expelled Russian diplomats in protest. Trump agreed to a similar move without paying much attention to the details and grew angry when he saw how many the US had ordered out, according to Washington Post reporting.
But it is the larger US foreign policy, Trump’s overall approach to America’s place in the world, that must be most pleasing to Putin.
Before Trump took office, the US led a unified alliance of democracies, NATO, which had a stated and outspoken commitment to its mutual defense and to the protection of human rights and democracy everywhere. Trump has moved deliberately to undermine all of that, fracturing the alliance and casting doubt on whether US forces should fight for other NATO members, and openly clashing with the countries that have been America’s closest allies since the end of World War II. Trump’s disorderly decision to leave Syria, incidentally, is another gift to Russia. That’s why Putin welcomed it.
An American president actually had to deny he is a foreign agent
In addition, Trump has undercut the appeal of democracy while heartily embracing dictators and autocrats around the world. That is a fantastic turn of events for Putin and other undemocratic leaders who worry about their citizens demanding the democracy they see abroad. Trump has steadily eroded his country’s moral authority in myriad ways, providing anendless stream of propaganda for US adversaries, who gleefully show, for example, migrant children in US detention centers and neo-Nazi protesters on US streets defended by Trump.
Similarly, Trump’s relentless attacks on the credibility of the press have been a boon to regimes with minimal independent media, like Russia’s. His “fake news,” slogan has given ammunition to autocrats everywhere, who wish to dismiss information they deem unfavorable. And his unprecedented stream of lies has blurred the lines between fact and propaganda, something demagogues have done throughout history. With the US president playing the same game, it’s an easier ploy for Putin and the others.
The political chaos Trump’s presidency has triggered in the US is surely a joy to watch from the Kremlin.
Is that chaos and acrimony what we want here? Putin may hope that the Russian people, watching the acrimony burning across America under Trump, might decide democracy is not a system worth fighting for.
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While Trump is indeed busy making the world more to Putin’s liking, democracy activists everywhere are keeping a close eye on what happens in the US, where Trump critics are forcefully challenging him. Putin is surely smiling, watching Trump carry out his agenda,
