Trump’s Biggest Gift to Putin
President Donald Trump’s trip to Europe last week produced such a staggering volume of news that it is getting hard to keep up. Trump accused Germany of being “a captive of Russia,” warned NATO allies that the United States “might go it alone” if they didn’t increase spending immediately, accused the British prime minister of “wrecking Brexit,” and met one-on-one with the Russian president, after which he appeared to express more confidence in Vladimir Putin than in his own intelligence services. White House aides have since worked feverishly—and unconvincingly—to convince the world that Trump didn’t actually mean what he said, or didn’t say what he meant. At the same time, they have introduced new controversies—for example, by suggesting that the United States would consider Putin’s outrageous idea that Russian officials be allowed to interrogate the former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul for alleged misdeeds in Russia.
The stories are so numerous and head spinning that potentially lost in the shuffle is what inand may have made Europe safe again for war.
