NATO pushed aside

Trump’s attacks on vital alliance seen as ultimate gift to Putin

IT’S something Russia has sought for decades – topple the NATO alliance.

Now a former NATO boss has called US President Donald Trump’s attacks the “gift of the century” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And the revelation that the FBI initiated a formal probe into the possibility of Mr Trump being a Russian “asset” has revived fears about his true motives. Two recent US government reports have fuelled the speculation.

Why is Mr Trump so openly hostile of a military alliance that has cemented America’s world influence throughout the past 70 years?

The first official word of concerns over links to Moscow in his election campaign team only emerged after Mr Trump was voted in on November 2016. It was revealed the FBI already had a dossier on Mr Trump compiled by a former British agent.

The document claimed Moscow had compromising material used for blackmail on the new President.

Shortly after FBI Director James Comey was fired, due at least in part to his refusal to drop the Russia investigation, despite Mr Trump’s requests.

Now the New York Times has reported this firing initiated a formal FBI investigation into the possibility Mr Trump was a Russian agent.

It wasn’t long before this probe was passed on to Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller.

Adding fuel to the fire is a report by the Washington Post that Trump had gone to “extraordinary lengths” to conceal the substance of his one-onone conversations with Mr Putin. He held the meetings in private, without the usual advisers. He confiscated notes. He swore translators to silence. Even his closest aides were kept in the dark.

Mr Trump has also repeatedly refused to criticise Russia on issues as crucial as its annexation of Crimea and actions against Ukraine.