Nixon Historian Fears Trump Is 'Cheerleading' For Putin At U.S. Expense
A Nixon historian on Monday sounded the alarm on Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin even as the Kremlin leader “undermines” American interests.
“You always want our president to interact with powerful foreign leaders,” Timothy Naftali, the former head of the Nixon presidential library, said on CNN’s “Outfront.” The “question is whether our president is representing U.S. national interests or representing his own interests,” he added.
Naftali pointed out that the question is “at the heart of the entire impeachment issue,” in which Trump is accused of wielding the might of the U.S. to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival.
Naftali was responding to a question about Trump’s possible attendance in May at Moscow’s Victory Day Parade, when Russia celebrates its military might.
“If the president is going to Russia simply to help cheerlead for Vladimir Putin, who has challenged the security of Europe, who has undermined American goals in the Middle East, who has undermined U.S. goals in Latin America ... you’re not cheerleading for U.S. national security,” said Naftali. He also pointed out that Russia has been supportive of the “horrific regime in Venezuela.”
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