By Judi McLeod —— Bio and Archives March 22, 2018
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“Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers [yesterday] when he congratulated ... Putin on his reelection — including a section in his briefing materials in all-capital letters stating 'DO NOT CONGRATULATE.’"Wow, the president ignoring national security adviser warnings in ALL-CAPITAL LETTERS is the latest WaPo scoop! So why does President Trump congratulating Putin matter? Because the know-it-alls over at WaPo say it matters:
“Why it matters: The speed and sensitivity of the leak prompted immediate finger-pointing within the administration, as aides reeled from a leak that could only have come from a small group of people, each of whom is trusted with sensitive national secrets. (Axios)So what else is new?
“Possible motives include concern about how Trump is handling Putin, frustration by the officials about Trump ignoring their advice, or internal power games. (Axios) “A White House official, furious about the WaPo story: “This is the way Trump is. If he’s doing business with you or working with you in some way, he’s going to congratulate you.”
"The idea he’s being soft on Russia is crap. He approved Javelin missiles to Ukraine, closed the consulate in San Francisco, approved the sanctions. ... But ... he doesn’t want his personal relationship [with Putin] to be acrimonious.” (Axios)In a hate-fuelled world, how dare the president not want any of his relationships with foreign leaders to not be “acrimonious”?
Trump's view is there’s a lot of business to be done, and overlapping interests, and if the relationship between the two countries "is to rebuilt, (sic) the line has to be through the personal, leader-to-leader level.” (Axios) “Trump had nonchalantly disclosed his message to Putin, while speaking to reporters during an Oval Office appearance with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump told reporters: "I had a call with President Putin and congratulated him on ... his electoral victory." "We had a very good call, and I suspect that we’ll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control — but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have. And also to discuss Ukraine and Syria and North Korea and various other things." "So I think, probably, we’ll be seeing President Putin in the not-too-distant future." Why it matters, from the WashPost: "The president’s conversation with Putin ... prompted fresh criticism of his muted tone toward one of the United States’ biggest geopolitical rivals amid the special counsel investigation.”
"President Obama highlighted achievements in U.S.-Russia relations over the past three years with President Medvedev, including cooperation on Afghanistan, the conclusion and ratification of the START agreement, Russia’s recent invitation to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and cooperation on Iran," the statement read. "President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed that the successful reset in relations should be built upon during the coming years.” “Obama told Putin he looked forward to Putin’s May visit to Camp David for the G-8 summit and the two talked about how they could benefit economically from Russia’s joining the WTO, the statement explained. That could be a reference to administration efforts to get Congress to repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik law that prevents the U.S. from giving Russia permanent normal trade status. Some in Congress are resisting that because of Russia’s deteriorating record on democracy, rule of law, and human rights. At the end of the statement, the White House mentioned the crisis in Syria, in which the Russian government is arming the brutal regime of President Bashar al-Assad. "President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed to continue discussions on areas where the United States and Russia have differed, including Syria and missile defense," the statement read. "President Obama and President-Elect Putin agreed to continue their efforts to find common ground and remove obstacles to better relations.”Meanwhile, what’s good for the goose is never as good for the gander if you’re talking Donald Trump. National Security advisors only warned him “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” in capital letters but the Washington Post CRITICIZED the president in the same fashion. Protocol is allowed by the media for Saint Obama but not for the devil they make Donald Trump out to be.
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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.