Free Republic

Sunday on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation With Al Sharpton,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said if President Donald Trump were not harsh on Russian President Vladimir Putin during their upcoming meeting it would amount to “commander-in-chief malpractice.” Booker said, “Well, the president’s relationship with Putin has been disturbing, to say the least. This is a president who seems to have better relationships with someone who attacked the United States of America, even calling for him to rejoin the relationships with communities like he did when he was up in Canada. It is outrageous the way he treats him but then our allies, who...

Putin arriving at Presidential Palace in Helsinki:……… very relaxed and informal ______________ Donald J. Trump arrives.

Several dozen supporters of President Donald Trump, many waving American flags and sporting “Make America Great Again” caps, have cheered as the U.S. leader neared his hotel in Helsinki before his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. […] The Trump fans, several from the True Finn anti-immigration party, said they wanted to make a show of support in a country where many people have criticized his policies. A few scattered boos rang out from across the road. …

Put aside whatever suspicions you may have about whether Donald Trump will be directly implicated in the Russia investigation. Trump is right now, before our eyes and those of the world, committing an unbelievable and unforgivable crime against this country. It is his failure to defend. The intelligence community long ago concluded that Russia attacked our election in 2016 with the express intention of damaging Hillary Clinton and assisting Trump. And it was not only the spreading of inflammatory fake news over social media. As a May report from the Republican-run Senate Intelligence Committee pointed out: “In 2016, cyber actors...

Coming off a contentious NATO summit and a trip to the U.K. in which he seemed to undercut the government of America's closest ally, President Trump took aim at another Western institution just days before his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Jeff Glor in Scotland on Saturday, President Trump named the European Union -- comprising some of America's oldest allies -- when asked to identify his "biggest foe globally right now." "Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they...

When asked which world leader was the greater threat to world security, 64 percent of respondents chose US President Donald Trump over his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. That’s according to a YouGov poll published on the eve of Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki. And the German antipathy toward Trump doesn’t end there: 56 percent of respondents thought that Putin was more competent than Trump, with only 5 percent preferring the latter on that score. Thirty-six percent of Germans find Putin more likable than Trump, while 6 percent say the opposite — although most respondents refused to indicate a preference...

Heading into his summit in Finland Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump has an important goal: improve relations with the world’s second-ranked nuclear power – but only if doing so will benefit the United States. “Getting along with Russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing,” the U.S. president said in April – a sentiment he has voiced many times before and since, going back to his days as a presidential candidate. President Trump – despite what his critics say – is not a naïve fool who will sell out the United States and our allies...

President Donald Trump said he may ask Vladimir Putin to extradite 12 Russian intelligence agents indicted Friday for hacking Democratic email accounts during the 2016 campaign, and said he has “low expectations” for his summit Monday with the Russian leader. “I go in with low expectations,” Trump said in excerpts of an interview with CBS News released Sunday. “I’m not going with high expectations.” A U.S. grand jury issued an indictment against the agents on Friday, charging them with hacking into email accounts controlled by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The charges stem from Special Counsel Robert...

Congratulations to France, who played extraordinary soccer, on winning the 2018 World Cup. Additionally, congratulations to President Putin and Russia for putting on a truly great World Cup Tournament -- one of the best ever!

Russia is planning to expand its Syrian bases at Tartus and Hemeimeem to Libya. The possible Russian move into Libya represents the most recent failure stemming from the policies of President Obama that backed Islamist rebels who overthrew and killed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Mr. Obama has said that the failure to prepare for the aftermath of the ouster of Gadhafi was the worst mistake of his presidency. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also came under fire for failing to provide security for Americans who were attacked and killed in Benghazi after Gadhafi’s fall. The push for a...

From Russia, without love. A new poll finds a decisive majority of Russians hold a negative view of President Trump — even though he has cozied up to the Kremlin in an unprecedented manner, frequently floating his wish to become Vladimir Putin’s “friend.” The poll, which was conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center earlier this week, found 71% of Russians view Trump as unfavorable while only 10% found him favorable. A stunning 77% of respondents consider Trump to be “self-centered” and 58% see him as “dangerous.” Conversely, only 16% consider the President “trustworthy” while 34% see him as...

The privation in the northern triangle—Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador—that has sent thousands of migrants to the U.S. border in search of work and a better life is ultimately the result of failed institutions. The bloody upheaval in Nicaragua is another case in point. Since April 19 more than 300 people have been killed while protesting against strongman Daniel Ortega. The U.S. Treasury last week imposed sanctions on three Ortega henchmen—the national police commissioner and a Sandinista Youth official for human-rights violations, and the head of Nicaragua’s state-owned oil company for corruption. Central America is strategically important, and Russia’s role...

Sen. John McCain praised the Department of Justice's announcement of the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers for interfering in the 2016 presidential election, adding President Donald Trump shouldn't meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin unless he holds him accountable. "President Trump must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world," the Arizona senator said in a statement Friday. "If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should...

The head of the Democratic National Committee on Friday joined calls for President Trump to cancel a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin following the indictment of 12 Russians for hacking. DNC Chairman Tom Perez said it “defies logic that Putin did not know of this” and said that Mr. Trump’s attempts to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the election — which led to the new charges announced Friday against Russian intelligence officers — has hurt the nation. “President Trump should absolutely cancel this meeting with Putin,” Mr. Perez said. “Putin is not...

GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) on Friday said that if President Trump isn't prepared to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin "accountable" for aggression toward the U.S. then he should cancel their meeting next week. "President Trump must be willing to confront Putin from a position of strength and demonstrate that there will be a serious price to pay for his ongoing aggression towards the United States and democracies around the world. If President Trump is not prepared to hold Putin accountable, the summit in Helsinki should not move forward," McCain said in a statement.

The image of the Russian Orthodox Church as the “handmaiden” of the state long prevailed in Tsarist Russia. After decades of Soviet persecution, this perception of the church has reemerged. Some in Russia have leveled similar criticism, as in a public declaration by three provincial Orthodox priests: “We urgently ask you to cease the shameful practice of blind collaboration with the authorities and every kind of dalliance with the wealthy in our country.” While church and state do collaborate in many areas, they have diverging perspectives and interests. The church’s adamant defense of autonomy stems from the calamitous Soviet experience....

Videos at link. President Trump claimed Friday ahead of his summit with Vladimir Putin that the Russian president would not have invaded Crimea had he been in office, calling the globally condemned annexation an “Obama disaster.” The comments marked Trump's latest attempt to set the stage for his meeting with Putin, with a combination of tough talk and suggestions of future improved ties. “I think we could have a very good relationship with President Putin,” Trump said, adding that he was not going into the meeting with “high expectations.” “We’ll see.” Trump tackled questions about Russia during a joint press...

Chuck Schumer (�Verified account) @SenSchumer President Trump should not meet with President Putin alone. 6:11 AM - 11 Jul 2018

For seven years, Gerhard Schröder was the leader of the most populous democracy in Western Europe. Schröder could have easily spent the rest of his career as an elder statesman, attending summits and writing books. Instead, Schröder — a friend of Vladimir Putin who has defended Moscow's top man as a “flawless democrat” — opted for a career in the Russian business world. His astonishing career in the Russian energy industry reached new heights when the former chancellor was nominated for a position as an independent director on the board of Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company — and one in...

Sunday night's aerial attack on the T4 airbase in Syria, near the city of Homs, was the third to have been ascribed to Israel at that site this year. Based on experience, Israeli will opt to attack in two possible contexts. The first is tactical: to hit a new arms shipment, or a weapons system that is about to be deployed. Israel has openly expressed concern about efforts by Iran to introduce such systems to protect its future military entrenchment in Syria, and has vowed to thwart such ambitions. The second context is to send a strategic signal. The latest...