Gallagher reflects GOP differences on Russia
State’s newest congressman skeptical of ‘thug’ Putin
With foreign policy looming as a source of Republican division in a Donald Trump presidency, one lawmaker to watch this year will be Wisconsin’s newest congressman, Mike Gallagher.
Elected in November to succeed Reid Ribble, Gallagher is a 32-year-old former Marine and intelligence officer who seems likely to play an active role on national security issues in Congress.
He is also a huge skeptic about Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which separates him from President-elect Trump.
“I think we’ve had people on both sides of the aisle that have been fooled by Putin,” Gallagher said. “I think Putin has shown time and again that he does not share our long-term interests.”
Asked in an interview last week if the
president-elect’s stance on Putin — Trump has praised the Russian leader and called for a closer working relationship — was a source of concern to him, Gallagher said, “Sure, absolutely.”
But he was not directly critical of Trump in his comments.
“In this chaotic transition process … I’ll give the president-elect the benefit of the doubt and the time to assemble a team he needs around him. As the dust of the election
settles, let’s all kind of holster our guns for now. Let’s see if we can unite the country,” said Gallagher.
The freshman congressman was interviewed last week before the release of a U.S. intelligence report accusing Putin of waging an “influence campaign” to undermine the American election, discredit Democrat Hillary Clinton and help Trump’s election chances.
Asked after the interview for comment on the report, Gallagher offered this statement Sunday:
“I have no doubt Putin is trying to undermine our interests here at home and abroad, but it is incredibly important to remember these aren’t Putin’s first provocations of the United States. While there’s a significant amount of media focus on these recent hacks, they are just the latest in a series of incidents over the last eight years of Russian hostility toward the U.S. and our allies.”
Gallagher went on to criticize the Obama administration for what he called “systematic weakness by the United States the last eight years,” saying it “has enticed additional attacks and provocations from our enemies and Russia’s latest foray is just that, the latest example of what happens when we lead from behind. Putin is a thug who doesn’t share our longterm interests and wants to destroy NATO and we must engage with him accordingly.”
Gallagher said his own military records “were stolen by the Chinese with limited consequence.”
While Gallagher was muted in his comments about Trump, his characterization of Putin as a “thug” reflects the pointed differences some GOP lawmakers have with Trump over the U.S.-Russia relationship.
Trump said Saturday on Twitter that “having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only ‘stupid’ people, or fools, would think that it is bad!”
Trump also said that when he is president, the two nations “will, perhaps, work together to solve many of the great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!”
Gallagher won his northeastern Wisconsin seat by roughly 25 points in November. It was an unexpectedly large victory in a race once seen as competitive. It didn’t hurt that Trump, at the top of the GOP ticket, carried his 8th Congressional District by double-digits. But Gallagher also ran several points ahead of Trump in the district, which is anchored by the city of Green Bay.
Gallagher said that because of his defense background and interests, he is hoping to land on one House committee that deals with national security and another that deals with domestic issues.
He spent seven years in the Marine Corps, deployed twice to Iraq and served as a human intelligence officer. Gallagher worked under Gen. David Petraeus and got to know both retired Marine generals nominated for the Trump cabinet, James Mattis and John Kelly. He is one of more than two dozen veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan now in Congress.
After the Marine Corps, Gallagher spent more than a year on Capitol Hill, serving as a Middle East and counterterrorism staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the current chair. He later served as foreign policy adviser on Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign.
Gallagher wrote his dissertation on foreign policy decision-making by presidents, focusing heavily on Dwight Eisenhower, a leader he voices great admiration for.
“Eisenhower was an internationalist,” said Gallagher, calling him “a ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ kind of guy.”
Gallagher said he thought Trump tapped into a desire by voters for a stronger, more assertive America. He said he was encouraged by Trump’s call for a buildup of the U.S. military and for reforming Veterans Affairs.
But he said some aspects of Trump’s national policy are “more opaque (and) Russia is probably the biggest example. And there is division within our party” on that.
Gallagher said it “would be a big mistake to think that we can work with Putin in the fight against” the Islamic State.
Said Gallagher: “That doesn’t mean we can’t talk to the Russians. It doesn’t mean we can’t look for areas to potentially cooperate. But when we’re negotiating, we need to make sure we’re negotiating from a position of strength, not weakness.”