Other views: No one has acted more forcefully than Trump
Kayleigh McEnany, White House spokeswoman:
“Yes, (President Donald Trump) has been briefed, but that does not change the fact that there is no consensus on this intelligence that still has yet to be verified . ... This president, I’ll tell you, is the most informed person on planet Earth when it comes to the threats that we face . ... When it comes to acting on viable, actionable, credible intelligence, there has been no one who has acted more forcefully than this president . ... He has made protecting our American troops overseas his highest and strongest priority . ... We saw that in the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani and the killing of the Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.”
Susan E. Rice, New York Times:
“Had I, as national security adviser, received even ‘raw’ reporting that Russia was paying to kill U.S. service members, I would have walked straight into the Oval Office to brief the president. Contrary to the spin masters in the White House today, I would not have waited until we had absolute certainty. ... If later the president decided, as Trump did, that he wanted to talk with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at least six times over the next several weeks and invite him to join the Group of Seven summit over the objections of our allies, I would have thrown a red flag . ... This is what would have happened in any prior administration of either political party . ... Now Putin knows he can kill Americans with impunity.”
The Wall Street Journal, editorial:
“It is going to be something to behold, on Jan. 21, 2021, when President Joe Biden takes revenge on Russia for paying the Taliban to kill Americans in Afghanistan. He’ll task the CIA with killing the Russian agents behind the bounties, send lethal aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression, work with allies to oust Russia and Cuba from Venezuela . ... Biden will do none of that, which ought to put into context the latest Washington uproar over the alleged Russian bounties and President Trump. (Biden) now talks tough about Russia and says Putin has ‘no soul,’ but that was true when Biden sought his Russian reset in 2009, and when Barack Obama attacked Mitt Romney as an unreconstructed Cold Warrior in 2012. Is there anything specific that Biden would do that would deter Putin from further attacks on Americans or U.S. interests? Concern about deals Trump might strike with Putin in a second term is legitimate. If only we could trust that Biden would be any better, and he might be worse.”