{"id":1313,"date":"2017-05-02T17:35:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T17:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/democrats.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/02\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/"},"modified":"2017-05-02T17:35:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T17:35:00","slug":"trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Tough&#8221; Talk With Russia Is A Complete Farce"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"gmail_quote\">\n<div lang=\"EN-US\" link=\"blue\" vlink=\"#954F72\">\n<div class=\"m_3394506611344797037WordSection1\">\n<p align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-align:center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Today Donald Trump will call Russian president Vladimir Putin in what we expect to be a cordial conversation. Trump seems to have a dangerous affinity for dictators and, despite what his administration says, any supposed &ldquo;tough&rdquo; talk with Russia is nothing more than a complete farce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span calibri=\"\" style=\"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background:white\">Here are just a few examples of when Trump has refused to be tough on Russia:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><span calibri=\"\" style=\"font-size:11.0pt;font-family:\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top:0in\" type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#222222\"><b>Just this weekend, Trump <\/b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/couldve-been-china-trump-says-on-election-hacking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">once again cast doubt<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/span><b> on whether Putin&rsquo;s government attacked our democracy &ndash; even as the threat of Kremlin cyberattacks looms over our allies&rsquo; elections in Europe. <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-left:.5in\"><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top:0in\" type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#222222\"><b>Trump <a href=\"http:\/\/english.alarabiya.net\/en\/News\/middle-east\/2017\/04\/26\/Trump-says-Assad-s-future-is-not-a-deal-breaker-on-Syria.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"color:#0563c1\">reportedly told<\/span><\/a> U.N. Ambassadors in private that he did not care whether Assad stayed in power in Syria &ndash; a gift to the Kremlin, which is committed to keeping him in power. <\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul style=\"margin-top:0in\" type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#666666;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:10.0pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline\"><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">Trump has repeatedly refused to criticize Putin and <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/the-press-office\/2017\/04\/12\/joint-press-conference-president-trump-and-nato-secretary-general\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">said<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\"> &ldquo;it would be a fantastic thing&rdquo; to get along with Putin&rsquo;s Russia. <\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#666666;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:10.0pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline\"><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">Tillerson did not use the <\/span> <\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary\/remarks\/2017\/04\/270136.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">threat<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\"> of sanctions to push Putin to abandon Assad, despite the Trump administration&rsquo;s repeated <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2017\/04\/rex-tillerson-russia-trip-syria-237080\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">claims<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\"> that the Kremlin should reconsider its support for Assad. <\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#666666;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:10.0pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline\"><b><span style=\"color:black\">Tillerson did not confront <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary\/remarks\/2017\/04\/270136.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">Putin<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b> <\/b><b><span style=\"color:black\">or<\/span><\/b><b> <\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/week-transcript-17-secretary-state-rex-tillerson-sen\/story?id=46677381\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">Lavrov<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b> <\/b><b><span style=\"color:black\">on Russia&rsquo;s wide-ranging interference in the 2016 election.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#666666;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:10.0pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline\"><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">Tillerson <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary\/remarks\/2017\/04\/270136.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">claimed<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\"> Russia had no advance knowledge of the Syrian gas attack, despite <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/19772be1238e49fbb62c509a5b659b3d\/Official:-Russia-knew-in-advance-of-Syrian-chemical-attack?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_medium=AP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">reports<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\"> that U.S. intelligence indicated otherwise. <\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"color:#666666;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:10.0pt;background:white;vertical-align:baseline\"><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">Tillerson <\/span><\/b><b><span new=\"\" roman=\"\" style=\"font-family:\" times=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2017\/04\/12\/wrong-time-tillerson-freeze-out-russias-independent-groups\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span arial=\"\" style=\"font-family:\">refused <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/b><b><span style=\"color:#222222;background:white\">to meet with any members of civil society who are opposed to Putin&rsquo;s human rights abuses, including crackdowns on political opposition, the targeting of LGBT citizens, and the stifling of free speech.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Today Donald Trump will call Russian president Vladimir Putin in what we expect to be a cordial conversation. Trump seems to have a dangerous affinity for dictators and, despite what his administration says, any supposed &ldquo;tough&rdquo; talk with Russia is nothing more than a complete farce. &nbsp; Here are just a few examples of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump&#039;s &quot;Tough&quot; Talk With Russia Is A Complete Farce - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-02T17:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/\",\"name\":\"Trump's \\\"Tough\\\" Talk With Russia Is A Complete Farce - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-02T17:35:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trumps-tough-talk-with-russia-is-a-complete-farce\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Tough&#8221; 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