CNN's Fareed Zakaria tackles a key mystery about Trump: 'Why is he so nice to the Russians?'
![Fareed Zakaria has some questions about Trump and Russia](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nunZp4TSBCjvK53LN6fkdT-415-80.jpg)
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.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
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
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
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.
-
A brief history of third parties in the US
In Depth Though none of America's third parties have won a presidential election, they have nonetheless had a large impact on the country's politics
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu makes controversial address
Speed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortion
Speed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents case
Speed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strike
Speed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF response
Speed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published