The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website July 16, 2018:
Despite condemnation across the aisle, few efforts under way to alter path
President Donald Trump just concluded a European foreign policy swing that resembled a runaway car, and Congress is merely a passenger with seemingly no intention, at least from those setting the agenda, of taking the wheel.
Germany is “totally controlled” by Russia. The European Union is “a foe.” And when asked Monday if he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin ran an effort to interfere in the last U.S. presidential election, Trump responded: “I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
The final comment capped a remarkable trip by the president that saw him attack and criticize allies and give Putin the benefit of the doubt even as his own intelligence community leaders — and members of Congress across the aisle — agree Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election and is poised to do so again in November’s congressional races.