President Trump might have invited Russian President Vladimir to Washington for another meeting, but he wants Putin to know that he expects his overtures to succeed.
If not, The Donald warned, Putin will be sorry because Trump will become his “worst nightmare.”
That was the nut of Trump’s comments during an interview with Joe Kernen of CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Why Is Germany Paying Russia?
“I have been far tougher on Russia than any president in many, many years. Maybe ever,” Trump told Kernen.
“Even the big fight I have with Germany” over natural gas imports from Russia. “I said, ‘wait a minute, we’re supposed to be protecting you from Russia and you’re paying them billions of dollars.’ What’s that all about?”
“Now, you think that’s a positive for Russia? I’m talking them [Germany] out of things … giving [Russia] billions of dollars. It’s ridiculous, by the way, that that’s happening,” the president continued.
“And then on top of that Germany pays a fraction of what they should be paying for defense. We’re supposed to defend them. So they’re paying Russia and we’re supposed to defend them from Russia.”
Obama a “Patsy”
Trump also noted that he’s hardly been easy on Russia, pointing to the sanctions he put on the country and the diplomats ejected from the United States.
Look at the all of the things I’ve done. Nobody else did what I’ve done. Obama didn’t do it. Obama was a patsy for Russia. He was a total patsy. Look at the statement he made when he thought the mikes were turned off, OK? The stupid statement he made.
Trump was referring to Obama’s comments about missile defenses to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “This is my last election,” Obama told him. “After my election, I have more flexibility.”
“Worst Enemy”
But then Trump demonstrated that his overtures to Putin shouldn’t be taken as a sign of weakness.
“Getting along with President Putin, getting along with Russia is a positive not a negative,” Trump told Kernen. “With that being said, if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be the worst enemy he’s ever had. The worst he’s ever had.”
And Trump also said this: “I think he knows that, I’ll be his worst nightmare. But I don’t think it’ll be that way. I actually think we’ll have a good relationship.”
Trump’s foes in the political and media establishments have been attacking the president all week for his comments during and after his meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
To recap, when asked whether Russia had interfered in the election in 2016, Trump said, “My people came to me. They said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Trump reversed himself on Tuesday, claiming he meant to use a double negative: “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia.”
The remarks caused the media and Democrats, who spent a half-century apologizing and giving aid and comfort to the Soviet Union, to collapse in a Trump Derangement seizure, with some claiming Trump had committed treason.
“I agree with John Brennan, who said that it was nothing short of treasonous,” said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).
Brennan ought to know. The former CIA chief, who called Putin Trump’s master puppeteer, is something of a traitor himself, as The New American noted.
Readers should not forget Brennan’s shady past, including his lies about the CIA’s spying on the U.S. Senate, and that he voted for Communist Party candidate Gus Hall in the presidential election of 1976.
Neocon Max Boot convicted Trump of treason in the Washington Post, while another Deep-Stater, Philip Mudd, called for a “shadow government” to stage a coup d’état and toss Trump from office.
Photo: AP Images
