Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.com
Never missing a chance to prop up Russia at the expense of America’s true allies, Trump is complaining that Vladimir Putin isn’t attending this weekend’s G-7 Summit.
“Russia should be in this meeting,” said Trump as he left the White House Friday morning. “Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? And I would recommend — and it’s up to them — but Russia should be in the meeting.”
Trump’s insistence that his friend Putin be invited to the trade conference featuring the most advanced economies in the world, and America’s closest allies, comes after Russia actively interfered in the 2016 election. Trump has continually refused to punish the foreign adversary after his own campaign colluded with Russian operatives.
Once again, Trump is carrying water for Putin, as President Barack Obama’s former Deputy National Security Adviser noted this week:
For anyone who asks why Putin helped Trump get elected, take a look at this G-7 Summit.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) June 8, 2018
Instead of confronting Russia, Trump is turning his wrath toward France and Canada, of all places, as he unleashes an illogical trade war with our longstanding economic partners.
The reckless move instantly damaged U.S. relations.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned, “economic nationalism leads to war. This is exactly what happened in the 1930s.” In a phone conversation with Trump, Macron also stressed Trump’s trade moves might be illegal.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the tariffs “totally unacceptable,” as Canada quickly announced plans to slap tariffs on $14 billion worth of U.S. products, from steel to toilet paper.
Trump may have no idea why Russia was kicked out of the G-8 in 2014, as the group of powerful nations then shrank to the G-7. It was because Russia unlawfully annexed Crimea.
At the time, Obama’s former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, stressed that isolating Russia was the most important response.
“Mr. Putin’s Russia has no real allies. We must keep it that way,” McFaul wrote.
Trump’s doing whatever he can to undo that.
