Loyal Americans have good reason to be afraid
Having watched a truly shocking press conference hosted by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, it reminds me of the Neville (peace in our time) Chamberlain imbroglio, and also the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, a treaty designed by the Nazis to lure Russia into a false sense of security.
Now, former CIA chief John Brennan calls Trump’s performance “imbecilic” and “treasonous”, which I think understates such a craven capitulation in front of the world. Indeed, Trump apparently chose to believe Putin rather than his own intelligence community’s assessment of foreign interference in the US 2016 presidential election. Suggestions as to why Trump took such a sanguine approach to all this are many and varied, and some are more “colourful” than others.
Irrespective, General Michael Hayden, former CIA and National Security Agency director says he has “never seen” such a performance by an American president. Indeed Steve Hall, former head of CIA Russian operations, believes that there is an element of “kompromat” (compromise) to describe current Putin-Trump relations. Anyone who supports the US, including me, should have cause for concern.
In the final analysis it is up to the readers of this newspaper to make their own minds up, and to agree or not with Rex Tillerson’s now (in)famous judgement of who or what Trump is. I know what I think.
Dr Frank
