While there is no conclusive proof that President Trump and his campaign team worked directly with the Russians to secure his election (at least of this writing) there is ample proof that the Russians aided his campaign.
- Hacking into and distributing confidential materials from Hillary Clinton's campaign (the same offense that Nixon's apparatchiks executed at the Watergate Hotel) and from her associate John Podesta's email account.
- Spreading false information on "social media" (Facebook, etc.) designed to mislead American voters and convince them to vote for Trump.
- Investigations of many of Trump's campaign operatives have revealed direct connections and interactions with Russians. The special council Robert Muller and his team have so far indicted several of Trump's campaign operatives and achieved several convictions. (Not all of those convictions related directly with Russian connections.)
After securing the presidency, President Trump has implemented policies that weaken American positions on a number of issues, both foreign and domestic.
He has been an advocate for Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin in particular.
He has also spoken highly of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un.
At the same time, he has gone out of his way to insult and alienate our closet allies, as when he rants about tariffs he doesn't even understand. (As Paul Krugman says " . . . powerful people who will neither flatter him nor bribe him by throwing money at his family businesses ")
- He has abandoned the Iran nuclear treaty.
- He has abandoned the Trans Pacific Partnership treaty, which provided a lever for US influence in the Pacific Rim. (This revocation enables China, another of Trump's favorites.)
- He has abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement.
- He has imposed trade sanctions on our closest allies, while eliminating them on our adversaries.
- He has dismantled large swaths of our government's scientific and diplomatic advisory institutions and replaced them with inexperienced amateurs or industry insiders with ulterior motives, if he has replaced them at all.. (Many of these experts are being successfully recruited by foreign governments.)
- He has advocated for Russia's inclusion in the Group Of Seven (G-7) trade negotiating meetings. (Russia was expelled from the G-8 after the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.)
- He has consistently attempted to discredit the American press, particularly when it reveals corruption and incompetence inside the Trump administration. When verbal (and Tweeted) abuse fails, he uses the levers of presidential power to inhibit financial deals proposed by critical media outlets. (i.e. (1) attempting to block the merger of AT&T with Time Warner, owner of CNN, and (2) the threat to hike postage rates for Amazon, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post., Trump considers both CNN and the Post political enemies.)
All of these things are exactly what a Russian plant would do if the Russians were able to ensconce a spy in the Oval Office. |