From virtually the moment the election was called in his favor, President-elect Donald Trump started facing intense pressure from international officials, as well as the outgoing administration, to keep the US hostile toward Russia, and to back away from his calls for normalization.
That’s continued apace, but now with the inauguration looming Trump is also facing a growing number of his own incoming administration officials echoing those calls, with incoming Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley insisting Russia just can’t be trusted under any circumstances.
Vice President Mike Pence also declared that the “historic mission of NATO,” which appears to just be hostility toward Russia, will remain intact in the Trump Administration, saying there is no question Russia “views us as a rival” and that the accused election hacking proves Russia doesn’t respect the US.
Trump’s own comments have painted NATO as a largely obsolete alliance, saying he thinks getting along with Russia wouldn’t be a bad thing. This, in and of itself, has scared several NATO member nations that see the status quo as threatened by Trump.
President Obama is also increasingly publicly speaking against Trump over plans for diplomacy with Russia, warning Trump against tying US sanctions against Russia to any negotiated deal on nuclear arms reduction. Trump had previously suggested that the sanctions could provide an opportunity to make such a deal.
Obama insisted the sanctions were to punish Russia for “meddling in Ukraine,” and warned that any deal that lifted the sanctions would confuse the issue. Obama also downplayed the nuclear arms deals’ possibility, insisting he’d already gone as far as Putin was willing to go.
Stay strong Donald.
He’ll be fine if he just keeps his mouth shut and he has lots of eye-candy around him to keep him busy.
Does anyone else suspect that his wife is into water sports too?
maybe?
ugh?
I certainly agree with Nikki Haley that Russia cant be Trusted and I maybe more strongly believe with our vice president Mike Pence that Russia views us as a Rival . With the nasty tricks we have pulled on Russia this is certain to be the case . You see I don’t believe Russia started the war against Georgia . I think we armed and encouraged Georgia to attack South Ossetia and Russia ..Russia only responded to Georgia’s attack . In Yugoslavia Yeltsin helped us end the War by promising Milosevic Russia troops will be coming in with NATO and Russian troops will protect the Orthodox Christian civilians But when the Russian troops arrived U.S.general Wesely.Clark issued orders for NATO troops to shoot the Russian soldiers . The English forces refused the orders .Non the less The United States did not want the Christian civilians protected ,Yeltsin was not able to protect the largest ethnic group in Yugoslavia and the Orthodox Christian were removed from over half of Yugoslavia . It is not commonly known that the United States furnished the airforce for AlQaida and other Muslim terrorist on Jihad in Yugoslavia .against the Orthodox Christians . But this is definitely known to be the case in Russia . As a matter of fact Russia was so upset they dropped Yeltsin and his new liberal democracy and looked for some body tough enough to stand up to NATO. Now if we understand Russia did not invade Ukraine , but that United States spent 5 billion dollars to arrange a coup in Ukraine . Are you beginning to get the picture Russia might consider us a rival and that maybe Russia doesn’t think they can trust us . We have no idea what Russia might be like if they were treated honestly but I see no reasonable reason why we keep provoking Russia . I’am perfectly willing to go along with Trumps plan of treating all countries like we would like to be treated
You said it all, Eric, and I couldn’t agree more. I won’t go through all you said here, but it’s all true.
You know that Bill Clinton was elected POTUS in 1992, and the breakup of Yugoslavia was already in the works. The drunken Boris Yeltsin was Russia’s first President, and the country was mostly ruled by Zionist Oligarchs, while the population went hungry. Bill Clinton appointed Gen. Wesley Clark – an anti-Orthodox Christian – Supreme NATO Commander, and it was the Zionist Clark who had ordered NATO troops to shoot the Russians. Thankfully, the British in their wisdom, refused the illegal orders .. But, as you said, Yeltsin wasn’t able to protect the largest religious group in Yugoslavia and the Orthodox Christians were removed from over half of Yugoslavia – a war crime according to the 4th Geneva Conventions. It was on Bill Clinton’s watch that the US furnished the air force for al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists for Jihad against the Orthodox Christians .. But this is definitely known to be the case in Russia. Of course, Russia was quite upset and dropped Yeltsin and his new liberal democracy and found Vladimir Putin, who was tough enough to stand up to NATO.
Russia didn’t invade Ukraine in 2014; however, the US did spend $5 Billion to arrange a coup in that nation. We have no idea what Russia would be like if we treated it honestly, but I, too, see no reason why we keep provoking Russia. I, like you, Eric, am perfectly willing to go along with Trump’s plan of treating all nations as we’d like to be treated.
Treating all nations as we’d like to be treated is the best policy any US Govt should pursue, but the outgoing regime of Barack Obama is filled with way too much hubris/bitterness to even try .. Thus, it’s now up to the incoming Trump regime to do so.
The biggest problem is that people are just not forgetting all Trump’s silly talk during the campaign. It’s time now because he’s been talked to and reprimanded.
And so he leaves Pence to tell it like it is now:
“historic mission of NATO,” which appears to just be hostility toward Russia, will remain intact in the Trump Administration,…………….”
luv from Canada.
The old Cold War has been made over into a New Cold War without any of the examination of American interests that went into the construction of Containment.
It is just reflexive.
These are smart people, but their priorities are not national security against Russian threat like Stalin’s Red Army hovering over a prostrate Europe.
Their idea of national security is an ever-expanding national security structure aimed at preventing the emergence of any Peer Competitor.
It is all about the spending on high tech we once called “gold plated.” Billion dollar airplanes. Twenty billion dollar ships. Submarines costing billions each. Single rounds of ammo costing a million each. “Nobody can match” that, but sensible people don’t want to match that extreme excess.