CNN's Fareed Zakaria tackles a key mystery about Trump: 'Why is he so nice to the Russians?'
On Monday night, CNN's Don Lemon asked Fareed Zakaria what he makes of the reports that President Trump disclosed highly classified and sensitive intelligence to Russia's foreign minister and ambassador. In this case, "you almost have to hope for incompetence, because the alternative is so dark," Zakaria said, hours before Trump said he shared "facts" with Russia for "humanitarian reasons." Trump "does not seem to either understand or care about the structures and processes of high government office," he added. The U.S. spends $70 billion a year on intelligence, and "these are the crown jewels," so to just give them away, "without really having thought it through, seems incredibly careless."
The "less benign interpretation" is that Trump "was helping the Russians out," Zakaria said, but "I'm sticking with the incompetence rather than venality theory." Then he stepped back to a larger question.
"The central puzzle of Trump's worldview and foreign policy, from the start of the campaign to now, has been very simple: Why is he so nice to the Russians?" Zakaria asked. Trump's whole foreign policy, dating back to the 1980s with Japan and NATO, can be summed up as "everybody screws the Americans," he said. "We always lose, they always win, I'm going to get tough on the rest of the world." The one exception is Russia. "Even today we discover, he spills the beans not to the Brits, not to the Germans, not to the French, but to the Russians," Zakaria noted.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Lemon asked if Trump understands that he's being played by the Russians, and Zakaria didn't guess at Trump's self-knowledge. But when he looks at how other leaders are handling Trump, he said, Vladimir Putin "is running circles around us," China's Xi Jinping is playing Trump like a fiddle, and other world leaders are "playing at a high level of sophistication, carrots and sticks." America, he added, is still waiting to start winning, much less tiring of all the victories. Peter Weber
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaos
Speed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump tells next Senate GOP leader to skip confirmations
Speed Read The president-elect said the next Senate majority leader must allow him to make recess appointments
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Fed cuts rates, chair says he won't quit if Trump asks
Speed Read Jerome Powell was noncommittal on future rate cuts that were expected before Trump won the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge revives plea deal for 9/11 suspects
Speed Read A military judge has ruled to restore the plea deals struck by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-conspirators
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Harris concedes as world prepares for Trump's return
Speed Read Vice President Kamala Harris told supporters it was important to 'accept the results of this election'
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Abortion rights measures go 7 for 10
Speed Read Constitutional amendments to protect abortion passed in seven states but failed in three others: Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu fires defense minister, sparking protests
Speed Read Yoav Gallant and Netanyahu have clashed for years. The Israeli prime minister first tried to fire the defense minister in 2023, but backed off following a public outcry.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump wins, GOP flips Senate, House a tossup
Speed Read The Republican candidate flipped back the swing states he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published