(July 19, 2018 at 12:38 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote:(July 18, 2018 at 12:48 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Actions speak louder than words. Can anyone point to a specific policy or action of Trump that has been favorable to Russian interests? Just asking a friendly question, not trying to start an argument.
It took a veto-proof act of congress to impose the latest round of sanctions on Russia, and even then Trump procrastinated for months before imposing them, a delay of great value to Putin. Trump would have reduced sanctions if congress hadn't blocked him. Bolton has fired the White House's homeland security advisor and he's been replaced with someone who isn't a cybersecurity expert; and eliminated the cyber coordinator position. Weakening our NATO alliance. Sowing chaos and discord in the USA.
He hasn't been able to give Putin everything he wants. but he's certainly been trying.
There has been even more that has been incidentally favorable of Russia as well. Not that Trump means to help Russia, but through his inepttude and because he's predictable and easily manipulated.
For instance, the US tried to put the Kibosh on that Breastfeeding thing. Guess who stepped in and ended up looking heroic? Russia.
Trump (predictably) started a trade dispute with Chine. But because Trump does not understand how negotioations work outisde of his little individual strongarm policies, where he views everything as win or lose, he didn't realize that China would just buy their stuff elsewhere. There are plenty of other markets for Soybeans! So, US farmers loose millions in soybean sales, and guess who get's China's business instead? Russia.
There are many incidents like this already, both big and small. As well, as American power wanes globally because the US makes more and more isolationist policies and pisses off the world (or at best is just ignored as a joke), guess who's influence will grow? Russia.
None of these things would be happening without Trump. A person would have to be willfully blind to miss how much Russia has already gained, and how much it stands to gain in political influence alone, just because of how the rest of the world now views and treats the US. And Putin is smart, he could see how a lot of this would play out.
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead