Diplomatic efforts to resolve Russia’s war in Ukraine were made complex this week when Vladimir Putin alleged that his rural home had been targeted by a failed Ukrainian drone attack. Russia offered no evidence to substantiate the claims, and as The New York Times reported, Ukraine strenuously denied that such an operation took place:
Ukraine immediately denied any such attack, accusing the Kremlin of inventing a pretext to undermine the peace talks being orchestrated by the Trump administration. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Sunday to discuss a possible deal, called the Russian allegation a ‘complete fabrication.’
The Ukrainian president added that Russia fabricated the attack in part to “justify additional attacks against Ukraine.”
Donald Trump, however, apparently accepted Putin’s claims at face value.
“I learned about it from President Putin today,” the American president told reporters. “I was very angry about it.”
Asked whether Putin’s claims had been verified by evidence collected by U.S. intelligence agencies, Trump initially replied: “Well, we’ll find out.”
Or put another way, the American president became “very angry” about claims, despite not knowing whether they were true.
In case that weren’t quite enough, moments later, Trump told the reporter who asked the question, “I mean, you’re saying maybe the attack didn’t take place. It’s possible, too, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning it did.”
The comments reflected a simple truth that too often goes unmentioned: Trump simply trusts Putin. The Republican has never explained why, but the Russian leader has the American president’s ear, and Trump appears eager to accept Putin’s claims at face value — despite everything he really ought to know about the former KGB agent’s record and obvious lack of credibility. Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who has consistently been critical of the White House’s weakness toward Moscow, wrote via social media, “President Trump and his team should get the facts first before assuming blame. Putin is a well-known boldface liar.” The fact that Trump will likely ignore the retiring congressman’s good advice speaks volumes.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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