President Trump says he's been firm with Russia on election meddling
Trump says he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin knows a line has been drawn; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports.
No U.S. administration since the collapse of the communism in Eastern Europe has ever been so directly hostile to Russian interests than the Trump administration, says Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group.
The foreign policy expert went to Twitter on Tuesday to dispel the accusation often voiced by Democrats who say the current administration has been soft on Russian efforts to spread its influence around the globe.
“Under Trump Admin, US is arming Ukraine, formally recognizing opposition to Venezuelan regime, and pushing for regime change in Iran,” he tweeted. “FACT: There’s been no US Administration so directly hostile to Russian interests since Soviet collapse.”
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This means that although Russia is expected to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, it “might be worth reconsidering who they’ll want to win” given that Trump’s foreign policy “is not turning out to be good for the Kremlin.”
“There’s the more structural question of whether Putin supports anyone that makes the US (and by extension the West) more divided,” he added. “Answer: Yes, but it matters less when the US economy is robust, defense spending is picking up, and the US is the world’s largest energy producer.”
The Trump administration has taken steps to support the Ukrainian military and announced last year the sale of 210 Javelin anti-tank missiles and 37 launchers, worth about $47 million. Ukraine has been embroiled in a years-long war against Russian-backed groups in Eastern Ukraine.
In Venezuela, Trump and his administration supported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó from the onset of his declaration that he’s the interim leader of the country.
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Russia has been supporting the socialist regime of Venezuela for years, including supplying weapons and aircraft. The country continues to play a key role in sustaining authoritarian president Nicholas Maduro’s reign and sent Russian military advisers.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directly rebuked Russia interference in the country.
“I’m going to tell him the same thing the president told the world: that every country must get out, including the Russians,” Pompeo said during an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “That’s what I’ll tell him. We don’t want anyone messing around with Venezuela.”
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The U.S. has also been engaged in a showdown against the Iranian regime, an ally of Russia, which has threatened the U.S. with war after American military experts found that Iran or its proxies were responsible for damaging four commercial ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sunday.