Given the recent history between the U.S. and Russia, the exchange of two phone calls between Presidents Trump and Putin takes on a significance far beyond what they would otherwise normally have.
For those who may have missed the details, the first of this week’s phone calls between the two leaders took place last Thursday after the Russian leader praised Trump’s stewardship of the American economy and pumped-up stock market during his annual four-hour televised press conference.
The flattery-addicted Trump immediately called Putin to thank him for the comments that were “acknowledging America’s strong economic performance,” according to the White House.
Today, Putin called President Trump to thank him for the assistance that his government received from the CIA in the form of a tip that helped prevent a terrorist attack about to be launched in St. Petersburg, according to the Kremlin.
The Washington Post characterized the calls as “unusual,” saying that:
“countries share intelligence all the time, but presidents rarely publicly thank one another about it.”
Yashar Ali, a writer for New York Magazine and The Huffington Post, posted the White House press statement on the call in his Twitter feed, followed by the remarks he solicited from a 28-year veteran of the CIA on the significance of the calls.
2. I asked @john_sipher, a 28-year CIA vet who served as a senior official in the CIA's National Clandestine Service (including as Chief of Station and Deputy Chief of Station in Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and South Asia) what he thought of this unusual readout. pic.twitter.com/woUdvTlXxV
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) December 17, 2017
This is exactly the danger that comes with electing an ignorant political neophyte as our president. One never knows whether Trump is foolishly playing into Putin’s hands or whether something more nefarious is being coordinated between two partners in crime.
Either way, Trump’s continual denigration of the intelligence services that warned him about Putin’s attack on our elections and his decision to ignore their advice on how to conduct our foreign relations with a country that doesn’t have our best interests at heart puts the nation at risk. It’s not like we have no reason to be suspicious of his motives.
