His memory hole

The Donald Trump brand is that he says what he means and means what he says. Sure, he may be rough around the edges, but what he lacks in diplomatic manner, he makes up for by being blunt and tough with the toughest characters on the planet, relentlessly standing up for American interests.

The story of Russian bounties on American and coalition forces in Afghanistan puts the lie to the myth in the most explosive way possible.

The story broke this summer: There was powerful evidence that Russia had sent cash to Afghan rebels for the explicit purpose of killing American and allied troops in what is still a war zone, and no formal White

House response. That evidence included intercepted electronic data showing large monetary transfers from an account controlled by Russian military intelligence to an account connected to the Taliban.

Yet since the commander-in-chief was informed of the jarring revelations, he never so much as broached the topic with his Kremlin counterpart.

Between late February, when the alleged bounties were reportedly included in the President’s Daily Brief (which Trump rarely reads but insists he pays close attention to), and late July, Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke at least eight times. Yet Trump admitted in an interview to never once broaching the matter with Putin. Nor is there any sign he has done so since.

This is a president who claims to revere U.S. troops like no one before him, who bats away as ridiculous any assertion that Putin has any magic leverage over him. How easy would it be for him to at least feign concern about a program that is believed to have shed the blood of U.S. Marines?

Join the chant: No more years.