Donald Trump has made no secret of his friendship with Vladimir Putin. He is famous for his praise and support of the Russian president.
This is fueling alarm among former intelligence officials and other experts. They fear Moscow may have the most to benefit from a Trump presidency, which ultimately harms the U.S.
It is on record that Trump praised Putin as a “genius” when Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. He also boasts that he would end the war in a “day.” This has critics fearing that Trump will help Russia achieve a favorable peace deal by cutting off aid to Kyiv.
Trump also recently gave Russia the green light to “do whatever the hell they want” to Nato members who were not paying enough to the alliance. According to Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Trump may admire Putin so much because he believes he is a “strongman.”
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“In a way, they’re working in parallel because they’re both trying to weaken the U.S. But for very different reasons,” she said. It may also have something to do with their autocratic natures.
Trump is a known autocrat, and he regularly adulates autocrats. This month, he hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close Putin ally, and had only praise for the man.
“There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán,” Trump said. In turn, Orbán lauded Trump as “a man of peace.” He said if Trump’s re-elected, he will leave Ukraine out to dry, thus ending the war.
Ex-officials are also worried that Trump will gut U.S. intelligence by appointing far-right loyalists like retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn. Flynn briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser in 2017. However, he later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the transition.
There are also deep concerns about another Trump presidency rooted partially in his acceptance of Putin’s word in 2018 that Russia had nothing to do with the 2016 election. This is even though there was substantial evidence to the contrary from U.S. intelligence officials, a bipartisan Senate panel report, and an inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Many worry that Trump will eliminate vital security expertise by paring back the U.S. government and appointing loyalists. It does not take rocket science to calculate how much that will weaken the nation as a whole.
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“Putin much prefers the chaos agent of Trump because it undermines the U.S.,” Hill said. “Trump’s not worried about national security but focused on himself. In paring back the U.S. government and appointing loyalists, Trump will get rid of vital security expertise.”
“Trump rarely read materials he was given before meetings,” Hill said. “Trump is less a threat to Russia, and more to the U.S. given his approach to governance.”
As far as many are concerned, nothing about Trump suggests he plans to put our country’s interests ahead of his own under almost any circumstances.
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Ex-intelligence officials foresee his pro-Putin affinities leading to a politicized intelligence community if he wins again, weakening intelligence sharing with allies and benefitting Russian interests.
“Trump almost certainly will politicize the intelligence community by going forward with his public promise of installing people on the extreme fringes of rightwing politics such as Michael Flynn and Kash Patel,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, a former senior intelligence service official.
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