President Trump’s infatuation with Russian President Putin goes back at least to 2018 when Trump accepted Putin’s word over our intelligence community’s that Russia hadn’t tried to intervene in the 2016 election to favor Trump over Hillary.
Thanks to the intelligence information released last week, we know that Trump was right and the intel community was wrong. But that doesn’t explain how Trump’s love affair with Putin continued. Trump has said many times that Putin wants peace in Ukraine and wants to stop the killing there.
The best thing Mrs. Trump can do is smooth out the president’s instant reactions which are sometimes wrong.
Nothing could be further from the truth as Trump has had explained to him by his wife.
Trump’s view of Putin has changed enormously over the past week. He has said, for example, that, “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin but he’s a tough guy.”
On July 14, Trump said that Melania’s influence on him with regard to Ukraine is significant. He said that Melania told him that the Russian made all sorts of promises for peace and never kept any of them. He said that she made him rethink his relationship with Putin and that Putin couldn’t be trusted with a long-term deal on Ukraine.
That is exactly what this column has been saying since the Ukraine war was begun by Russia in 2022 (or 2014 if you want to include Russia’s conquest of the Crimean Peninsula, which you should.)
It’s in the Russian DNA. From the days before the Czars, Russian foreign policy has been about Russia’s interests and no one else’s. Given Putin’s background as a KGB colonel, a Soviet functionary and the rest of his bio, it’s entirely inexplicable why Trump would even begin to trust him.
It’s very unusual for Mr. Trump to credit the First Lady with anything having to do with foreign policy. Which makes this instance all the more interesting. Why do it, and why do it now?
Trump may be ready — based on Melania’s advice — for a major shift in policy toward Russia. It’s long overdue.
Let’s face facts: Russia is an enemy and should be treated as such. It has all manner of treaties and agreements with all the bad guys: China, Iran, North Korea, and even Turkey, our least reliable NATO ally.
To get tough with Russia is no easy task. Trump has hinted at an additional 100 percent tariff on Russian goods. That may or may not pay off. What may be more effective would be sanctions on more Russian oligarchs, generals, and admirals. Even more effective could be more sanctions on Russian companies whether or not they are doing business in Ukraine.
The European Union wants to do away with gas imports from Russia. By 2027. Gee, that’s only five years from the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine (13 years from Crimea.) Why the hell shouldn’t the EU get off its butt and do that now? We can sell the EU as much gas as it wants, but the problem is that the EUnuchs may prefer to buy from Russia.
So what can we look forward to in FLOTUS’s influence on the president?
There are several things that Mrs. Trump may be able to influence.
Not the Gaza war. Mr. Trump has that firmly in hand and there’s no need for a harder policy coming from Melania.
Likewise the immigration crisis, brought about by former president Biden. Trump has that in hand as well, give or take a few legal decisions.
There are several reports that we will run out of ammunition in a war with China over Taiwan that goes on longer than a few weeks. The president was very proud of our B-2 strike on Iran’s nuclear sites but we aren’t building the bombs and missiles we need for a war with China. As the Wall Street Journal said last week, Trump isn’t rebuilding the U.S. military. In fact, he’s — tragically — letting it age to obsolescence. Maybe a suggestion from the First Lady can fix that.
The best thing Mrs. Trump can do is smooth out the president’s instant reactions which are sometimes wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Trump listening to his wife. In fact, the nation has much to gain from her — so far — wise advice. If she has, by whispering in his ear, convinced him that Putin is not trustworthy, she will have done an enormous service for the nation.
If the president is wise he’ll continue to listen to her. Sometimes, mother knows best.
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