Analysis: Pompeo can’t explain away Trump’s softness on Putin
By Aaron Blake Aaron Blake Senior political reporter, writing for The Fix Email Bio Follow May 6 at 10:38 AM President Trump on Friday seemed to adopt Vladimir Putin’s talking points, saying after a phone call with the Russian president that Russia was “not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela.” He said this even though his own secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said Russia had “invaded” the South American country.
“I didn’t see the full context of the quote there. I don’t know what context that was in,” Pompeo told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I do know this: The president has made clear, we want everyone out, and that includes the Russians.” Trump has indeed said that Russia should get out of Venezuela, but it was hardly a proactive declaration. It came not in a tweet , but in response to a question during a Q&A with reporters. And Trump seemed anxious to get past the question. Q: Mr. President, what sort of complications does the Russian involvement now pose? To date, that seems to be the only time Trump has explicitly called on Russia to get out of Venezuela or even acknowledged its involvement as a fact.
Rather than issue a forceful rebuke and echo Pompeo, though, Trump suggested this was a mere “rumor”: I’ve bolded the key parts when it comes to Russia, but that last sentence about Cuba is also key. Trump has repeatedly talked tough when it comes to consequences for Cuba’s involvement, but he has notably not done the same when it comes to Russia’s.
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