MaddowBlog-In advocating for Russia, Trump even doesn't bother to keep up appearances

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Trump must know that every time he advocates on Putin’s behalf, he reinforces impressions that he’s beholden to Moscow. He keeps doing it anyway.

Trump must know that every time he advocates on Putin’s behalf, he reinforces impressions that he’s beholden to Russia.

But as we were reminded at the G-7 summit, Trump just can’t seem to help himself. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-06-17T13:02:22.054Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/advocating-russia-trump-even-doesnt-bother-keep-appearances-rcna213439

As the American president really ought to understand, it’s not that complicated. Russia fought with allied forces 80 years ago, but in the decades that followed, Germany and Japan became advanced liberal democracies, while Russia became a dangerous and destabilizing pariah — up to and including launching unprovoked invasions of its neighbors.

Trump made it sound as if Putin and the Kremlin were victims of unfair treatment, which he characterized as bewildering. Four days later, the Republican made matters worse. The New York Times reported:

President Trump could have opened by talking about trade. He could have discussed the wars in the Middle East or the long-running, brutal war in Ukraine. But there was something else that appeared to be top of mind for Mr. Trump during Monday’s meeting in Canada of the leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations: President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Even by Trump standards, the circumstances were weird. On Monday morning, as a G-7 summit got underway in Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the American president to the gathering, wished the U.S. Army a happy 250th birthday, and thanked the United States for its leadership role in the G-7. The Republican spent a few moments thanking his host before turning his attention — unprompted — to a country that wasn’t invited to the international gathering.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lrqcuz5tnd2t

Link to tweet

“The G-7 used to be the G-8,” Trump said. “Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn’t want to have Russia in, and I would say that that was a mistake because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were President four years ago, but it didn’t work out that way.”......

Trump knows he’s faced criticism for nearly a decade over his ties to Russia. He knows he’s been publicly accused of being “Putin’s puppet.” He knows every time he needlessly advocates on Putin’s behalf, and every time he reads from a Kremlin-like script, he’s reinforcing impressions that he’s beholden to Moscow.

And yet, Trump keeps doing it anyway, seemingly indifferent to appearances.

Common sense might suggest that he’d at least want to keep up appearances, and maybe ease up on the public advocacy of his Russian counterpart.

But for reasons the White House hasn’t explained, Trump can’t seem to help himself.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Everyone knows Trump works for Putin, there is no need to hide it any longer.