In my last article I quoted actual events, then followed it with my own rhetorical views. In this article I will point out what is reported between Putin and Trump without any personal editorial about the actual event, except a conclusion at the end. So let's begin the what is reported as indisputable facts. I use quote marks at the beginning and end since this is a single source.
"President Trump seemed to lack authority, praising Putin when he should have been condemning him, and ceding opportunities to confront Putin on his most egregious actions of the past decade -- including meddling in the 2016 election and the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014
Trump appeared to have had little plan, alternating between vague promises of improving our relationship with Russia and spending too much time on U.S. domestic affairs, notably the 2016 presidential election. Instead of holding Putin accountable for his election interference, he referenced his defeat of Hillary Clinton. For a sitting U.S. president to say publicly that he believes a foreign leader over his own intelligence team is shocking and admonishable. At a time when our democracy faces grave threats, it is deeply troubling that the president would side with the very country who attacked us.
At one point, President Trump even cited, incorrectly, the Electoral College tallies from over two years ago. This was all in an attempt to deflect questions that he was apparently unable to answer.
Despite each nation backing different sides in the Syrian conflict, Trump suggested he and Putin would begin working in conjunction to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Syria, regardless of the fact that the need for humanitarian aid largely stems from Putin's unabashed support for Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad. Additionally, Trump also failed to address the concerns of our NATO allies Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the Baltics regarding the territorial threats they persistently face
Trump, throughout the entire press conference, failed to condemn or even acknowledge the illegality of Putin's actions in Crimea and Ukraine.
When asked if he would hold Russia accountable for any of its past actions, Trump deflected and deferred. President Trump's unwillingness to stand up to Russia on this issue only serves to weaken the Western alliance and encourage further Russian incursions into the territory of sovereign nations now that Putin knows Trump will give him a pass.
Most importantly, on election meddling, Trump refused to stand with U.S. intelligence and charge Putin with interference, saying he doesn't see any reason why it would be the Russians carrying out the illegal meddling.
For a sitting U.S. president to say publicly that he believes a foreign leader over his own intelligence team is shocking and admonishable. At a time when our democracy faces grave threats, it is deeply troubling that the president would side with the very country who attacked us. Additionally, Trump's failure to distinguish between campaign collusion and Russia's blatant attack on our democracy allowed Putin to sow more discord during the press conference. Instead of standing up to Putin, Trump offered to cooperate with Russia on some of the very issues that Russia is causing. As some very wise analysts have noted, this strategy is like allowing a criminal to investigate his own crimes. It is foolish and naive and President Trump must simply do better going forward.
Trump said he has great confidence in the intelligence community, but Putin gave a strong and powerful denial. He said he doesn't see any reason why Russia would be behind election meddling.
Trump used the stage to again condemn Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe as a disaster, saying there was no collusion with his campaign.
Other Republicans, while not as fierce as McCain, also criticized Trump, reminding him that Russia is not considered a friend of the U.S."
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