Jump to content

Trump Ignored Explicit, All-Caps Instructions to ‘NOT CONGRATULATE’ Putin: Report


homersapien

Recommended Posts

 Report He also refrained from criticizing Russia for meddling in U.S. elections and attacking a former spy with nerve gas.

Shortly after the absolutely unsurprising re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump was given explicit instructions in his daily briefing materials to avoid congratulating his counterpart.

But despite the all-caps notation reading “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” Trump did so anyway, according to a report Tuesday by The Washington Post.

According to a White House statement, “President Trump congratulated President Putin on his March 18 re-election, and emphasized the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. The two leaders confirmed the need for the United States and Russia to continue our shared efforts on strategic stability.”

“We had a very good call,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the exchange, noting that the pair “will probably be meeting in the not-too distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control.”

The Post noted that the same briefing document supplied to the president about the call also urged Trump to discuss allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and to condemn a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England earlier this month.

The president did neither, and the Post said it was unclear if Trump had even read the material.

Read the full article at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-putin-national-security-advisers_us_5ab198fbe4b054d118ddf4f7

Link to comment
Share on other sites





  • Replies 53
  • Created
  • Last Reply
22 hours ago, homersapien said:

 Report He also refrained from criticizing Russia for meddling in U.S. elections and attacking a former spy with nerve gas.

Shortly after the absolutely unsurprising re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump was given explicit instructions in his daily briefing materials to avoid congratulating his counterpart.

But despite the all-caps notation reading “DO NOT CONGRATULATE,” Trump did so anyway, according to a report Tuesday by The Washington Post.

According to a White House statement, “President Trump congratulated President Putin on his March 18 re-election, and emphasized the importance of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. The two leaders confirmed the need for the United States and Russia to continue our shared efforts on strategic stability.”

“We had a very good call,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the exchange, noting that the pair “will probably be meeting in the not-too distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control.”

The Post noted that the same briefing document supplied to the president about the call also urged Trump to discuss allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and to condemn a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England earlier this month.

The president did neither, and the Post said it was unclear if Trump had even read the material.

Read the full article at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-putin-national-security-advisers_us_5ab198fbe4b054d118ddf4f7

First reported by The Washington Post late Tuesday, and confirmed by Fox News, the NSC prepared a memo for the president’s post-election phone call with Putin, which warned him not to congratulate Putin on his election victory. The memo read, “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” in all-caps.

But a senior administration official told Fox News on Wednesday that it was likely Trump never saw the memo, as his pre-call briefing was done over the phone, and not in person.

The senior administration official told Fox News that during the pre-call briefing, the “do not congratulate” guidance was never brought up.

While the memo was in the president’s daily briefing book, senior administration officials said it was likely the president did not read it before the call, which took place early in the morning from the residence.

 

Just go ahead and delete the thread. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

First reported by The Washington Post late Tuesday, and confirmed by Fox News, the NSC prepared a memo for the president’s post-election phone call with Putin, which warned him not to congratulate Putin on his election victory. The memo read, “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” in all-caps.

But a senior administration official told Fox News on Wednesday that it was likely Trump never saw the memo, as his pre-call briefing was done over the phone, and not in person.

The senior administration official told Fox News that during the pre-call briefing, the “do not congratulate” guidance was never brought up.

While the memo was in the president’s daily briefing book, senior administration officials said it was likely the president did not read it before the call, which took place early in the morning from the residence.

 

Just go ahead and delete the thread. 

You don’t get that the all caps warning shouldn’t have been necessary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

You don’t get that the all caps warning shouldn’t have been necessary.

President Trump has to congratulate the man that helped him win his own Presidency. I guess....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, TexasTiger said:

You don’t get that the all caps warning shouldn’t have been necessary.

I see nothing wrong with what Trump did. I also saw nothing wrong with Obama doing the very same thing to Putin in 2012, or the other foreign leaders he congratulated. I can dig them up if you'd like. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

I see nothing wrong with what Trump did. I also saw nothing wrong with Obama doing the very same thing to Putin in 2012, or the other foreign leaders he congratulated. I can dig them up if you'd like. 

Are you saying Obama congratulated Vlad? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

I see nothing wrong with what Trump did. I also saw nothing wrong with Obama doing the very same thing to Putin in 2012, or the other foreign leaders he congratulated. I can dig them up if you'd like. 

The climate has changed since Obama did it. I don’t have a problem with the congratulation. But with the recent events, the team who tries to keep this prick under control, Thought it was not a good idea. He either overlooked or disregarded their advice. He needs help more than he knows. 

1 minute ago, NolaAuTiger said:

You don't proofread anything. 

jkjk.    I blame Tim Cook 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, alexava said:

The climate has changed since Obama did it. I don’t have a problem with the congratulation. But with the recent events, the team who tries to keep this prick under control, Thought it was not a good idea. He either overlooked or disregarded their advice. He needs help more than he knows. 

The only climate change is that Hillary lost. Never heard much about Russia anything until week 2 November 2016. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

The only climate change is that Hillary lost. Never heard much about Russia anything until week 2 November 2016. 

Really?  Nothing has changed?

So the fact that our intelligence community, the FBI, and leading legislators on both sides agree that the Russians did in fact attempt to influence our electoral process isn't enough reason for you to dissociate ourselves from that country's leader? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Brad_ATX said:

Really?  Nothing has changed?

So the fact that our intelligence community, the FBI, and leading legislators on both sides agree that the Russians did in fact attempt to influence our electoral process isn't enough reason for you to dissociate ourselves from that country's leader? 

You are not going to have any luck with this effort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, alexava said:

You are not going to have any luck with this effort.

Unfortunately I'm accutely aware of this fact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, alexava said:

The climate has changed since Obama did it. I don’t have a problem with the congratulation. But with the recent events, the team who tries to keep this prick under control, Thought it was not a good idea. He either overlooked or disregarded their advice. He needs help more than he knows. 

Russia was a global threat in 2012 and everyone knows it. Don’t arbitrarily set a threshold.

EDIT: hahaha I just noticed the “Tim Cook” thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Yes he did. In 2012. As you recall, Russia was a global threat then also

But they would have never done anything like try to influence our electoral process would they?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

But they would have never done anything like try to influence our electoral process would they?

What’s happening now is a direct result of Obama’s passive attitude towards he regime. What’s happening now progressed from then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Russia was a global threat in 2012 and everyone knows it. Don’t arbitrarily set a threshold.

EDIT: hahaha I just noticed the “Tim Cook” thing.

Russia has and always will be a global threat. The change is the fact that Obama had never had his nose up Putin’s ass crack the way trump does. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, alexava said:

Russia has and always will be a global threat. The change is the fact that Obama had never had his nose up Putin’s ass crack the way trump does. 

Not sure what the point of your first sentence is. Literally doesn’t change the essence of what I said - namely the current product of the passive past towards Russian aggression. If Trump “shouldn’t” have had congratulated him, then let’s not let Obama off the hook either. 

People honestly shouldn’t give a damn. But I guess in this era, there needs to be something to complain about.

Your second sentence is just childish rhetoric, like that of my own in the prior sentence. 

Cheers ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, NolaAuTiger said:

What’s happening now is a direct result of Obama’s passive attitude towards he regime. What’s happening now progressed from then.

One can make the Obama didn't "nip this in the bud", but nothing Obama did has forced Trump to take the positions he has on the issue. 

Trump is responsible for his own actions - or lack thereof.  But, but Obama..... just doesn't fly logically.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, homersapien said:

One can make the Obama didn't "nip this in the bud", but nothing Obama did has forced Trump to take the positions he has on the issue. 

Trump is responsible for his own actions - or lack thereof.  But, but Obama..... just doesn't fly logically.

I’m talking about the fact that both men congratulated Putin. If we are going to criticize one, based on the current climate between Russia and USA, then we should criticize the other (administration) also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Not sure what the point of your first sentence is. Literally doesn’t change the essence of what I said - namely the current product of the passive past towards Russian aggression. If Trump “shouldn’t” have had congratulated him, then let’s not let Obama off the hook either. 

People honestly shouldn’t give a damn. But I guess in this era, there needs to be something to complain about.

Your second sentence is just childish rhetoric, like that of my own in the prior sentence. 

Cheers ? 

Obama had a team of advisors. He heeded their advice or discussion took place internally. Trump has a bunch of “handlers “ trying to keep republicans in power yet prevent a childish, narcissistic prick from embarrassing the country (at best destroying it at worst). He can’t heed the advice because he has to flaunt his power of being a dictator to someone. So his own damn inner circle leak this s*** in disgust. Probably hoping to get fired and be considered a hero by the 70+% of the country that disapproves of trump. It’s not about being ok for one president and bad for the other. It’s about the chaos in this White House. Leave Obama out of this. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, NolaAuTiger said:

I’m talking about the fact that both men congratulated Putin. If we are going to criticize one, based on the current climate between Russia and USA, then we should criticize the other (administration) also.

Had the Russians attacked our electoral process prior to Obama congratulating Putin?

They certainly did before Trump did. (And as I recall Trump actually encouraged them to go after his opponent.)  And of course, there are Trumps extensive business dealings with the Russians. I'm sure we'll know more about those with time.  

Trump acts afraid of Putin - as if Putin has something on him.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/opinion/donald-trump-russia-putin.html

Why Is Trump So Afraid of Russia?

Undoubtedly, these circumstances are what prompted someone high on Trumps staff to tell him in all caps DO NOT CONGRATULATE.

To throw Obama's mistake up as the reason to excuse Trump for his behavior is weak.  Very weak. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, alexava said:

Obama had a team of advisors. He heeded their advice or discussion took place internally. Trump has a bunch of “handlers “ trying to keep republicans in power yet prevent a childish, narcissistic prick from embarrassing the country (at best destroying it at worst). He can’t heed the advice because he has to flaunt his power of being a dictator to someone. So his own damn inner circle leak this s*** in disgust. Probably hoping to get fired and be considered a hero by the 70+% of the country that disapproves of trump. It’s not about being ok for one president and bad for the other. It’s about the chaos in this White House. Leave Obama out of this. 

Good grief, it’s safe to say you’re an alarmist. Oh BS quit acting like you’re the arbiter of the issue. You know damn well what this is about. Quit trying to move the goalposts. The White House has already debunked the claims that he didn’t heed his advisors. You’re acting as if he unilaterally ignored the advice and offered congratulations in spite of it - and you’re dead wrong. This is about Trump getting criticized for congratulating Putin, period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/opinion/donald-trump-russia-putin.html

"....The possibility that Mr. Putin could have some hold on the American president has lurked in the background over the past year as Mr. Trump displayed a mystifying affection for the Russian leader and ignored or excused his aggressive behavior and nefarious activities, most important, his interference in the 2016 campaign, a subject of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Some Trump defenders noted that President Barack Obama also called Mr. Putin when he was elected president in 2012.

But the circumstances are very different. In the intervening years, Mr. Putin has become an increasingly authoritarian leader who has crushed most of his political opposition and engineered a deeply lopsided re-election this week. American intelligence officials say they are certain that he meddled in the 2016 American election on behalf of Mr. Trump and is trying to meddle again in the 2018 election, as well as in many European elections.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, is waging war in other parts of Ukraine and is enabling President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

While the administration recently imposed its first significant sanctions on Russia for election interference and other malicious cyberattacks and has faulted Russia for the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain, Mr. Trump has refrained from criticizing Mr. Putin or calling him to account. The phone call reinforced that approach.

What Mr. Trump didn’t say to Mr. Putin was as significant as what he did say. He did not demand that Mr. Putin stop meddling in American elections or others, he did not even raise Moscow’s role in the poisoning.

He made no mention of the unfair political system that deprives Russians of a real say in their government. The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, later reinforced Mr. Trump’s lack of interest, telling reporters it was not America’s place to question how other countries conduct their elections.

The disparity between Mr. Trump and his advisers, who seem to take threats from Russia more seriously, is becoming more pronounced.

A senior administration official told The Times that Mr. Trump didn’t want to antagonize Mr. Putin because fostering rapport is the only way to improve relations between the two countries. On Tuesday, the president said he hoped to meet Mr. Putin soon and discuss preventing an arms race — an arms race both leaders have encouraged with loose talk and investment in new weapons.

Engaging Russia and preventing an arms race are undeniably important. But it’s hard to see how praising and appeasing a bully will advance American interests. That’s not the approach Mr. Trump has taken with adversaries like North Korea or Iran, or, for that matter, even with some allies.

While Mr. Trump panders to Mr. Putin, his criticism of Mr. Mueller is becoming harsher, as the investigation raises increasingly serious concerns about a web of ties connecting Mr. Trump’s associates to Russia.

Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying about his involvement with Russia. A former foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, has pleaded guilty to lying about his involvement with Russians. A former deputy campaign chairman, Rick Gates, who had his own Russian connections along with a now-indicted former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has pleaded guilty to lying about Russian-related matters.

Mr. Mueller has subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s company for any documents involving Russia. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee sayMr. Trump was “actively negotiating a business deal in Moscow with a sanctioned Russian bank” during the 2016 campaign season.

And Mr. Mueller has charged 13 Russians with conspiring to subvert the 2016 election and put Mr. Trump in the White House.

Mr. Brennan’s fears clearly arise from some of these elements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...