Trump tells Putin: Envoy cull’s fine by me, it’ll save money!
DONALD Trump has thanked Vladimir Putin for ordering the US to slash its diplomatic staff in Russia.
The astonishing remarks are likely to raise fresh questions about the US president’s relationship with the Kremlin.
Breaking nearly two weeks of silence since the Russian president’s order cutting US embassy and consulate staff by nearly two-thirds, Mr Trump said: ‘I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll.’
He added that ‘there’s no real reason for them to go back’ and ‘we’re going to save a lot of money’.
His response to Mr Putin’s Cold Warstyle move is in stark contrast to the way previous presidents have reacted in similar circumstances.
It also clashes with a State Department official having called Mr Putin’s order issued at the end of last month ‘a regrettable and uncalled-for act’.
The State Department had no immediate reaction to the comments Mr Trump made to reporters while on vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
But the department was ‘horrified and rattled’ by the remarks according to one veteran US diplomat who has served in Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Whether or not President Trump’s remarks were intended to be flippant, they were immediately denounced by current and former US officials who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Nicholas Burns, who was the State Department’s third-ranking official under Republican President George W Bush, called Mr Trump’s comments ‘grotesque’.
‘If he was joking, he should know better,’ said Mr Burns, now a professor at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government.
‘If he wasn’t, it’s unprecedented. A president has never defended the expulsion of our diplomats.’ Heather Conley, formerly a top State Department official dealing with European affairs, said the expulsions of hundreds of people from an important US embassy was extraordinary and ‘it is very difficult to see how the president could view these expulsions as a positive development in any form.’
Congressional committees and a special counsel are investigating the conclusions of US intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election campaign by hacking and other methods to help Mr Trump, a Republican.
They are also looking into possible collusion between the campaign and Russian officials. Moscow has repeatedly denied meddling in the election and Mr Trump denies any campaign collusion.
Mr Putin, reacting to new sanctions imposed by the US Congress and reluctantly signed into law by Mr Trump, ordered Washington to cut 755 of its 1,200 embassy and consulate staff by September. Many of those affected are likely to be local Russian staffers.
It was also a tit-for-tat reaction to former president Barack Obama expelling 35 Russian diplomats from the United States last December over the intelligence agency reports.
During his campaign and since becoming president, Mr Trump has consistently called for better ties with Russia, declined to criticise Mr Putin and refused to embrace unequivocally the conclusions of the intelligence agencies.
‘He should know better’