But it’s important to understand that there is more here than one unfortunate remark. Over the course of his candidacy, Donald Trump has revealed a remarkably consistent attitude toward Russia—a subject he seems to have thought about almost more than any other in this campaign.
He has repeatedly and emphatically rejected criticism of Vladimir Putin’s methods of rule, including his
murders of journalists.
He has called NATO
obsolete because it is too focused on the threat from Russia. At his own convention, he
told The New York Times he would not defend small NATO countries like Estonia against a Russian attack.
Trump’s convention team, largely indifferent to the work of the party-platform committee,
acted decisively to strike pro-Ukraine language. Trump himself has
urged decreased U.S. support for Ukraine as it resists Russian invasion.
And at this most recent press conference, he
indicated openness to recognizing Russia’s conquest and annexation of Crimea—and expressed opposition to maintaining sanctions against Russia. That statement would have topped the news on any day except one in which a candidate for United States president
openly invited foreign espionage against his political opponent.
For a candidate with few consistent views on anything, this adds up to a very clear picture. Joined with other evidence of Trump’s
deep personal business obligations to people in the Putin ruling circle, and his campaign leadership’s
long-standing involvement with the former pro-Putin authoritarian leader of Ukraine, the picture becomes even more troubling—even sinister.
