Donald Trump kissed Vladimir Putin on the lips, at least in a Saturday Night Live skit in November.
Whether romance or bromance, Trump’s embrace of the Russian leader looks to be especially tight. During the American presidential campaign, Putin could commit no hostile or dangerous act that Trump did not explain away. After November 8, the president-elect staunchly defended the Russian from, among other things, hacking charges made by the American intelligence community. Trump famously compared the Kremlin strongman favourably to President Barack Obama.
What explains Trump’s Russia-friendly views? Some think he is compromised by a video taken in a Moscow hotel room monitored by the FSB, the Russian security agency, as a shadowy dossier publicized by BuzzFeed in January suggests. Maybe he is merely grateful for Russia leaking material damaging to Hillary Clinton during the bruising campaign. Others say Putin, who has reportedly courted Trump...
Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China (Random House, 2001). Follow him on Twitter @GordonGChang.
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