So Trump has a schoolboy crush on Putin: Helsinki just proved what we already knew
Trump views Putin as a powerful leader, political benefactor, fellow nationalist, a co-defender of Christianity, and a comrade in arms. Given the symmetry of their beliefs, convictions and goals, Trump’s performance at the summit was fairly predictable.
As far back as 2007, Trump told Larry King on CNN, “Look at Putin – what he’s doing with Russia … whether you like him or don’t like him – he’s doing a great job in rebuilding the image of Russia and also rebuilding Russia, period”.
In 2015, on another cable news programme, Trump said of Putin: “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country” (then US president Barack Obama).
Trump’s ‘squirming’ reversal: I meant opposite of what I said with Putin
One thing is for sure: it is incontrovertible that Putin helped Trump win the 2016 election. If not for Moscow’s highly sophisticated campaign, there is no way that Trump would have beaten Hillary Clinton. That is not fake news; that is a fact.
George Cassidy Payne, Rochester, New York