Trump remains silent on Alexei Navalny’s death
Former president Donald Trump, who earlier this month set off worries among allies when he said he would encourage Russia to invade a NATO country that wasn’t spending enough on defense, has remained silent on the death of Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most potent political opponent.
The front-runner of the GOP presidential primary has made multiple public appearances since Russia announced Navalny’s death in a faraway Arctic prison on Friday. He has not comment- ed on the dissident’s shocking death, even though he frequently speaks about what he would do as president when confronting Russia, Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Navalny embodied the resistance to Putin’s regime more than any other Russian opposition figure, and his death at 47 was seen as a watershed signal that no dissent will be tolerated in Russia as Putin shifts toward a highly centralized, deeply repressive totalitarian regime.
Days before Navalny’s death — the cause of which the Russian government has not yet explained — Trump, who has often praised Putin, told supporters in South Carolina that he would urge Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that he believes is not paying their share due to the alliance.
The remarks sparked controversy in the United States and Europe, with American leaders promising that they would remain committed to NATO allies and European leaders expressing concern that a second Trump presidency could erode the alliance.
As The Washington Post reported Friday, during his four years in office, Trump appears to have never once mentioned Navalny’s name.
After the Russian dissident was poisoned with a banned nerve agent in August 2020, Trump as president was asked how he might respond. He talked about how tough he had purportedly been on Russia and noted that there was no proof of Russia’s involvement on Navalny’s poisoning.
Navalny, the U.S. State Department and European authorities blamed Russian security forces for the poisoning. Trump never condemned the poisoning, even after Navalny called on him to do so.
And now, Trump’s silence on Navalny’s death stands in stark contrast to harsh criticism from other U.S. political figures.
President Joe Biden, speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Friday, said Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death.
“What has happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality. Nobody should be fooled,” Biden said.