Why does Donald Trump admire Vladimir Putin so much?
Since the beginning of the American presidential campaign, Donald Trump has continued to flatter Russian President Vladimir Putin. Are they on the same wavelength?
In Lithuania, on the wall of a restaurant in the capital Vilnuis, a work of “street art” made people talk in May 2016. It paints the portrait of two men kissing passionately: Donald Trump and Vladimir Poutine. Against the current, the Republican candidate for the American presidential election does not hide his admiration for Putin. And flatters him regularly, to the point of being portrayed by Slate as "Putin's puppet". Last July, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton even accused Trump of “absolute allegiance to Russian foreign policy goals.”
In the United States and even in his own party, his uninhibited admiration for the Russian president is surprising. The New York Times devoted an article to it which elucidates the Russophilia of the Republican candidate for the American presidential election. We have translated it for you below.
Putin, a presidential model for Trump
Like the pro-Kremlin Russian media, Donald Trump is convinced that Putin is a necessary foil to an aggressive but incomplete American power. Last Wednesday, at a forum on national defense, Trump again flattered the Russian president, saying he was much more respected than Obama. If the American president has suffered many affronts on the world stage, he was also the only head of state deprived of a red carpet, when he left his plane at the G20 summit in Hangzhou (China), in early September. An embarrassing welcome, which according to Trump reveals Obama's lack of leadership.
“[Putin] is a leader, much more than our President,” Trump said afterwards.
Unsurprisingly, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton strongly criticized the remarks, as did some Republicans. Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, recalled that Putin was not a potential ally of the United States, but an adversary.
"Leader of the Free World"
For Trump as for the European nationalist parties, Putin is the complete opposite of Barack Obama, whom he considers ineffective and too complicated. In Syria, for example, Russian intervention has not been hesitant, unlike American foreign policy.
In 2013, when the United States threatened Bashar al-Assad with airstrikes if he did not bring his chemical weapons under control, Putin succeeded in pushing him to agree to dismantle his chemical weapons. The Russian president thus prevented American bombardments in Syria, and was seen by certain conservatives as the “leader of the free world”. As for the journalists of Forbes magazine, they have ranked him the most powerful man in the world on several occasions.
“Trump sees Putin as a strong man, who makes things happen, notes Angela E. Stent, professor at Georgetown University, quoted by the New York Times. Everyone pays attention to him. Since last year, Russian military operations in Syria have put him back at the center of global diplomacy. »
Despite his successes, Putin stirs up criticism. Between a corrupt economy and a failing democracy, Russia marginalizes any political opposition. In 2014, it suffered international sanctions after annexing Crimea. What followed was a period of diplomatic isolation for Putin. During the G20 meeting in Australia in 2014, the Russian president had to have lunch alone, then left the summit before its end, recalls Angela E. Stent.
Two authoritative leaders
According to Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international studies also interviewed by the New York Times, Putin and Trump share the same vision of leadership: authoritarian and tough. “Trump aspires to be a firm leader, capable of standing up to the greats of this world,” notes Khrushcheva. He would like to be like Putin, who did not hesitate to stare insistently at Obama during the last G20 meeting in China.
But Trump never mentioned the many issues that divide the United States and Russia. A Trump presidency would not necessarily augur a significant warming of relations between the two countries. However, Trump likes to repeat the compliments that Putin gave him last December. The Russian president then called him "yarki", a Russian adjective which can mean "brilliant", or "colorful".
Poutine nuance
Excited, Trump assured this month that the United States and Russia could unite in the fight against Daesh, if elected. “Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could work together and defeat Daesh? “, he let go. Although Putin does not seem determined to change his policy in Syria, he would welcome with open arms a US administration led by Trump, which would necessarily be more favorable to him.
While the Kremlin media are constantly praising Trump, Putin has a much more nuanced view of the US presidential election. Before the last G20 meeting, in an interview with the Bloomberg television channel, the Russian president mocked the "shock methods" of Trump and Clinton. “I don’t think they are very exemplary,” he breathed.
