{"id":667,"date":"2018-03-17T21:15:37","date_gmt":"2018-03-18T01:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=667"},"modified":"2018-03-19T21:20:38","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T01:20:38","slug":"how-trump-has-split-with-his-administration-on-russian-meddling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=667","title":{"rendered":"How Trump Has Split With His Administration on Russian Meddling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By\u00a0LINDA QIU<\/span><\/a>\u00a0

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President Trump was studiously silent as his administration imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential campaign and what officials called other \u201cmalicious cyberattacks.\u201d<\/span>Credit<\/span>Tom Brenner\/The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump has long avoided blaming \u2014 or even naming \u2014 Russia for meddling in the 2016 election that put him in office.<\/p>\n

But his administration has been far tougher on Moscow for cyberattacks that officials this week said not only sought to sway political opinions, but also\u00a0wormed into power plants<\/a>, aviation systems and other critical infrastructure in the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Mr. Trump was studiously silent as his\u00a0administration imposed sanctions on Russia<\/a>\u00a0for interfering in the 2016 presidential campaign and what officials called other \u201cmalicious cyberattacks.\u201d (The president\u00a0did agree with a British assessment<\/a>\u00a0that Moscow was responsible for a nerve-gas attack in England against a former Russian spy and his daughter.)<\/p>\n

The Treasury Department\u00a0said the sanctions<\/a>\u00a0were to punish \u201cRussia\u2019s continuing destabilizing activities.\u201d And for the first time, the Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I. directly\u00a0accused Russia<\/a>\u00a0of committing cyberattacks against \u201cenergy, nuclear, commercial facilities, water, aviation and critical manufacturing sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, by contrast, Mr. Trump said that \u201cthe Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, certainly, there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals,\u201d the president said at a\u00a0March 6 news conference<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This pattern of diversion has steadily increased since Mr. Trump took office. Here is a look back at how the president and his own administration have parted ways on Russia.<\/p>\n

February 2018: Deflecting accusations of Russian meddling<\/strong><\/p>\n

United States intelligence officials warned in mid-February that\u00a0Russia had already begun meddling in the 2018 midterm elections<\/a>. But Mr. Trump continued to suggest other countries could also be the culprit.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the way, I have to say, Obama was the president during all of this meddling, or whatever you want to call it, with Russians and others possibly,\u201d he said in a\u00a0Feb.<\/a>\u00a024 interview on Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

December 2017: Conflicting signals on national security<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s first\u00a0national security strategy blueprint<\/a>\u00a0made repeated references to Russia\u2019s interference in the 2016 election and its \u201cinformation operations as part of its offensive cyberefforts to influence public opinion across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet in\u00a0his speech announcing the strategy<\/a>\u00a0on Dec. 18, Mr. Trump made one fleeting mention of Russia: of how it and China \u201cseek to challenge American influence, values and wealth.\u201d He made no mention of Russian meddling and instead praised intelligence sharing between Russia and the United States in the face of terrorism threats.<\/p>\n

August 2017: Signing a sanctions bill reluctantly<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Congress passed legislation in late July to impose sanctions on Russia and limit the president\u2019s authority to lift them, Mr. Trump\u00a0signed the bill<\/a>but criticized it as \u201cseriously flawed \u2014 particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch\u2019s authority to negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump signed the legislation on Aug. 2. Several days earlier, President Vladimir V. Putin\u2019s government had retaliated by\u00a0seizing two American diplomatic compounds<\/a>\u00a0in Russia and telling the United States Embassy in Moscow to\u00a0reduce its staff<\/a>\u00a0across the country. Mr. Trump did not respond, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary,\u00a0declined to comment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the State Department described Moscow\u2019s move as \u201ca regrettable and uncalled-for act.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are assessing the impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it,\u201d the department said in a statement.<\/p>\n

July 2017: Suggesting he found Mr. Putin\u2019s denial persuasive<\/strong><\/p>\n

After Mr. Trump\u00a0met with Mr. Putin<\/a>\u00a0during a Group of 20 summit meeting, he recounted the Russian leader\u2019s assurances that Moscow did not intervene in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst question \u2014 first 20, 25 minutes \u2014 I said, \u2018Did you do it?\u2019 He said, \u2018No, I did not, absolutely not.\u2019 I then asked him a second time, in a totally different way. He said, \u2018Absolutely not,\u2019\u201d Mr. Trump said in\u00a0an interview with Reuters<\/a>\u00a0that was published on July 12. \u201cSomebody did say if he did do it, you wouldn\u2019t have found out about it. Which is a very interesting point.\u201d<\/p>\n