Trump and his pal Putin

This remarkable piece describes the Trump-Putin relationship, which bears hallmarks of an intel officer’s relationship with an asset. Trump considers it a forbidden “friendship” and confides in Putin, who stokes Trump’s grievances for Putin’s own benefit. https://t.co/pAe3ttyGe4

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) July 7, 2018

This is pathetic: “The president rarely reads his nightly briefing book, which focuses on issues likely to come up in meetings, a second senior U.S. official said. To slim down Trump’s workload, aides have sometimes put the most critical information in a red folder, the official said.”

Trump says “Putin is fine”

No, he isn’t!

Annexed Crimea
Invaded Eastern Ukraine
Murders dissidents, journalists & spies
Deliberately bombs civilians in Syria
Mounting military buildup to weaken US
Interfered in election to help Trump win https://t.co/tiZiKY2m4C

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 6, 2018

Republican senators were in Russia for July 4th

It’s not just Trump.

Senators Shelby, Moran, Daines, Johnson, Kennedy, Thune & Hoevenand + Rep. Granger, who have no time for hearings on Trump stealing children, celebrated July 4 with the enemy that attacked our election, as 2 more people were being poisoned on sovereign British soil by that enemy

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 5, 2018

I'm just gonna note that if I was a U.S. Senator the last place I would have spent a 4th of July was Vladimir Putin's Russia.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 5, 2018

Russian senator Andrei Klimov tells me US lawmakers didn't bring up Crimea during Moscow meeting: "I didn't hear the word 'Crimea' once in 2 hours."

— Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) July 3, 2018

To @SenJohnKennedy, Russia is our “friend” who we should politely ask not to attack us and to cease its invasion of its neighbor. But tyrants do not listen to polite requests. When did the GOP become so weak? Ronald Reagan did not beg the Russians for mercy. https://t.co/zSSsM1KmJR

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) July 5, 2018

From Russia, with love. https://t.co/Ka2fnc6FE0

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 5, 2018

Senator, you sent this from a place called Russia. And to be clear, you think it’s okay to spend this day meeting with America’s enemies and wrong for American athletes to kneel in protest of police brutality. #amazing https://t.co/c3honabtwS

— David Shuster (@DavidShuster) July 5, 2018

On this 4th of July, do you know where your Senator is?
These US lawmakers are celebrating in Russia:@SenJohnKennedy (LA)@SenShelby (AL) @SteveDaines (MT)@SenJohnHoeven (ND) @SenJohnThune (SD) @JerryMoran (KS)@RepKayGranger (TX)@SenRonJohnson (WI)https://t.co/j8Mug9IyVA

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) July 4, 2018

Let this sink in. Today, Senate Intel found Russia interfered in our election w/ a preference for @realDonaldTrump. Yet, @SenateGOP leaders were in Moscow cozying up w/ Russians and Trump wants a private meeting with Putin. If they can’t confront Russia, shouldn’t they just stay?

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 4, 2018

This ought to run in campaign ads from now through eternity https://t.co/VpCbGg6VIn pic.twitter.com/1a56suCRgK

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) July 5, 2018

There was a time, in the pre-Trump era, when Republicans would have erupted in fireworks over an Independence Day visit by submissive American lawmakers to the country the 2012 Republican presidential nominee called “our number one geopolitical foe.” https://t.co/Af5JYbMc7h

— Dana Milbank (@Milbank) July 6, 2018

update 7/8/18:

Was this just hours before or just hours after a woman on sovereign British soil was fatally poisoned by a Russian nerve agent? https://t.co/yDvpfIfWFH

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 8, 2018

update 7/10:

EXCLUSIVE: Those GOP senators who went to Moscow can't keep their stories straight. https://t.co/K8rBCpF8W4

— Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) July 10, 2018

A member of the party that benefitted from Russian interference is now telling us that Russian interference isn’t that big a deal … right after he visited Russia.

It’s times like these that I remember that Russia also hacked the RNC but didn’t release anything. https://t.co/7aVIFWXD8M

— Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) July 10, 2018

If you are looking to kill time until SCOTUS pick, head over to @RepKayGranger's page – she's been posting overtime to try to explain her trip to RUSSIA on Independence Day.

She's getting seriously ratio'd. #kremlincaucus https://t.co/ALcbqFVGFV

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 9, 2018

Trump considered invading Venezuela

Oh so totally unlike this summer https://t.co/0sMAU7zbfD

— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) July 4, 2018

Trump lie about Obama and Iran

Another in an endless series of lies

Trump relying on dubious Fox report to attack Obama is another example of him consuming RW media & echoing it to stoke conspiracies. He could have picked up phone & called his own gov't to see if claim was true, but chose to rely on Fox instead https://t.co/kMJQdPiLYB

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 4, 2018

Trump appears to have relied on a dubious Fox News story to attack Obama this a.m. The Fox story cited an Iranian news agency that cited an Iranian newspaper that quoted a single Iranian cleric. Obama officials say the cleric’s claim is false. My story: https://t.co/qoUeYRn1dt

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 4, 2018

New #FactChecker —> Trump falsely claims Obama gave citizenship to 2,500 Iranians during nuclear deal talks https://t.co/4RuYVUFYlj

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) July 4, 2018

AP FACT CHECK: Trump says Iranians were made US citizens as part of 2015 nuclear deal, but nothing in the agreement speaks to naturalization: https://t.co/UNr2y5BsTK

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) July 4, 2018

update:

Experts aren't buying the claim, promoted by Diamond and Silk as well as Trump, that Obama secretly gave Iranians citizenship as part of the nuclear agreement. https://t.co/aDDsiQrpNL pic.twitter.com/WuvVSZCK5z

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) July 6, 2018

Trump and Putin will meet one on one

What will Trump concede to Putin now? I guess Trump will offer concessions on Syria and Crimea.What else is left? Putin should be thrilled with Trump’s work attacking our enemies.

Trump doesn't care what people think about his relationship with Putin | Analysis by CNN's Stephen Collinson https://t.co/7R50bXsN4k pic.twitter.com/zJfSzbQmIe

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 3, 2018

Trump planning one-on-one meeting with Putin without aides present: report https://t.co/MTgp22LHAe pic.twitter.com/A1bgviUTlV

— The Hill (@thehill) July 3, 2018

"Tump’s willingness to accede to Russian power in Syria troubles Pentagon officials, but they seem to be losing the argument…Putin has taken a decisive position in Syria at minimal cost—with a deferential Trump now seeming ready to confirm his victory" https://t.co/Ihr7akyxgz

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) July 3, 2018

If Trump got so easily and willingly played by Kim Jong Un, imagine what Putin has and will do to him.

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) July 2, 2018

Trump has sent letters to our allies with demands. I wonder if he sent a letter to Putin (delivered by Bolton?) with demands as well.

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) July 3, 2018

Trump wants to meet with Putin alone, with no other aides present on either side, in Helsinki this month. That means no note-takers, witnesses, or official record. https://t.co/nUepSFAUNP

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) July 3, 2018

A Trump confrontation with our allies at the upcoming NATO summit meeting "could play into the hands of Putin … whose primary goal is sowing divisions within the alliance," the NYT reports:https://t.co/frtxoJZcqu

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 3, 2018

If Trump isn’t compromised by Putin or beholden to the Kremlin, he sure loves making it look like he is… https://t.co/jjRHThVqjB

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 3, 2018

Amazing. It did not take John Bolton long to completely debase himself. Whether you liked him or not, he had strong consistent views. Threw them out the window for a narcissistic, reckless, sociopath in league with Putin. https://t.co/WU5DXDLHdG

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) July 2, 2018

Trump insists no other Americans allowed in to his Putin meeting https://t.co/wPpnSUmxmg pic.twitter.com/20ZuPqc1q8

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) July 3, 2018

Report released days after Bolton repeated Putin line Russian state was not involved, and ahead of Trump one on one with Putin on July 16 https://t.co/YhphuSX1t8

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) July 3, 2018

.@PressSec refuses to rule out recognizing Crimea as Russian territory, after Bolton did the same:

"I'm not going to get into any negotiations at this point."

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) July 2, 2018

Trump criticizes NATO allies

Putin will be pleased!

Breaking News: President Trump sent sharply critical letters to NATO allies, demanding they spend more on defense and warning the U.S. is losing patience https://t.co/OtwCHqpOAr

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 2, 2018

Trump subordinates US foreign policy to Russian priorities

The opinion column states: “I have never believed that Trump is a Manchurian candidate — a Russian mole — but it’s hard to know how he would be acting differently if he were. If the Atlantic alliance survives his presidency in its current form, it will be a miracle.”

“Trump appears determined to subordinate U.S. foreign policy to the Kremlin’s imperatives,” writes ⁦@MaxBoot⁩. Sounds preposterous. Yet the evidence for it keeps accumulating. https://t.co/4HVPZtIBpi

— Gabe Schoenfeld (@gabeschoenfeld) July 2, 2018

After getting hosed by Kim Jong-un in Singapore, Trump does Putin’s bidding ahead of their Helsinki summithttps://t.co/POVFs7dtRU

— Salon (@Salon) July 2, 2018

Trump’s lie on Saudi Arabian oil production

Trump said he got Saudi Arabia to increase oil production. Saudi Arabia won’t say that. It’s just another of Trump’s endless lies.

= lie. Saudi agreed to raise oil production already, at an OPEC meeting. it wasn't because @POTUS asked. Literally everyone reported it including @FoxNews @FoxBusiness https://t.co/lct8llBzyU

— Sam Vinograd (@sam_vinograd) June 30, 2018

I may be just a small-town political economist, but I reckon that Saudi Arabia would be awfully hard-pressed to boost oil production by 2 million barrels-per-day. https://t.co/3BhcnvJQnZ

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) June 30, 2018

Saudi Arabia does not confirm agreement to increase oil production, despite Trump claim https://t.co/Du3zosoLB6 pic.twitter.com/n299z5k0br

— The Hill (@thehill) June 30, 2018

This is also a lie. Saudi agreed to raise oil production already, at an OPEC meeting.

Trump's entire existence is about taking credit for things other people accomplished.https://t.co/LZQJAGVSNP

— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) June 30, 2018

A senior Saudi official said the kingdom has made no specific promise to President Trump but rather assured the U.S. of its capability to meet oil demand. https://t.co/Qc3TbblYur

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 30, 2018

Is #Trump manipulating oil reserves to benefit Russia and Saudi Arabia? It sure looks that way to me. We currently have the equivalent of almost 2 years of imports in our reserve. The IEA recommended red line is 3 months. Why is he waiting? https://t.co/TPQfvjgkw8 via @usatoday

— George Capen, CDR (ret) USNA 89 (@george_capen) June 30, 2018

Ambassador to Estonia resigns over Trump rhetoric

Read U.S. ambassador to Estonia's resignation over Trump rhetoric https://t.co/rbaOMevg2R

— Post World (@PostWorldNews) July 1, 2018

He wrote “For the President to say the [European Union] was ‘set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,’ or that ‘NATO is as bad as NAFTA’ is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go.”