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Miti Shah
24 June 2018 |
Trump's suggestion to reinstate Russia to the trade group despite knowing that all the allies strongly oppose it was highly frowned upon. Why then is Trump taking such risks for Russia at the cost of increasing the divide between the USA and its strongest allies?
School of Liberal Studies, PDPU, Gandhinagar & Research Intern, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc (Bengaluru)
Among the many disagreements of President Trump with the G7 at the recent summit, the US President fought a battle on behalf of Russia with some of the strongest allies.
His suggestion to reinstate Russia to the trade group despite knowing that all the allies strongly oppose it was highly frowned upon. Why then is Trump taking such risks for Russia at the cost of increasing the divide between the USA and its strongest allies?
Trump and Putin: Similar traits
Trump’s admiration of Vladimir Putin dates back to 2007, a long time before his presidential elections, when in an interview on CNN with Larry King, Trump exclaimed, “Look at Putin – what he’s doing with Russia…whether you like him or don’t like him – he’s doing a great job in rebuilding the image of Russia and also rebuilding Russia period.” Later, in 2013, began a streak of Trump’s tweets that indicated his wish to build a strong bond with Putin. He speculated the Russian President’s attendance at his beauty pageant in Moscow saying that if he does attend it: “Will he become my new best friend?”
Both these leaders have mutually appreciated each other’s working styles and show some common traits in their working patterns. Both are right-wing nationalists and believe staunchly in prioritizing their national interest over other matters. Both believe that their country was in a bad shape and it is only them who can save it. Whether it be Trump’s constant criticism of the previous government, or the make America great again campaign or Putin’s belief that he is the only saviour of Russia: a country that is on the brink of catastrophe at the moment. Putin believes that if he steps away, the state will fall apart.
Hence, be it Russia’s annexation of Crimea or Trump’s idea to build a wall between US and Mexico, both these leaders are similar in their constant efforts to design their domestic and foreign policies to prioritize their national security and further their national interest over other concerns.
Both these leaders have tried to build an image that redefines leadership. They both want to portray themselves as fierce and strong headed. As someone who is not afraid to break the conventions and take necessary steps to achieve their national interests. For Putin, this friendship also helps to regain Russia’s status as a powerful country. However, Trump, despite knowing this is comfortable in helping Russia.
In a continuum of their appraisals for another, Putin has also reverted by being extremely supportive of Trump’s actions. Once, he said, “He (Trump) is a very colourful and talented man, no doubt about that.”
These leaders have thus begun a new wave of US-Russia relations.
Economic benefits for the Trumps
Apart from both the leaders common ideologies, genuine fondness of the one another and similar goals, it is believed that Trump has business ties with Russia. These ties have been established long before Trump’s presidential campaign.
There are also allegations of Russian intervention in the last US presidential elections to help the results to be in favour of Trump. A special investigation team has been established to prove these connections. Their reports suggest that there is some economic transaction between Donald Trump and some oligarchs of Russia who might have interfered in the elections in exchange of stronger Russia-US bond.
This can be incurred from their reports:
USA and the allies
Trump left the Paris climate accord, walked out of the Iran deal, recognized Jerusalem as a part of Israel, disagreed with the negotiations at the G7 summit and was ready to look over Russia’s annexation of Crimea. These moves have led to a rift between the USA and its allies since it involves high stakes for the European Union.
When Donald Trump refused to sign the G7 agreement, he lashed EU states for treating the US like “a piggy bank that everybody’s robbing”. With all of this, President Trump also remarked that, "Russia should be in this meeting. They should let Russia come back in, because we should have Russia at the negotiating table." He added that it was the ex-president Barack Obama’s fault to not handle the case of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in a better way. However, he believes that having Russia back in the trade group would benefit Russia, US, and all the member countries.
He also targeted Canada in particular, claiming that it was being unfair to the US. The president of the European Commission defended the Canadian prime minister against attacks by Donald Trump, who described him as “dishonest” and “weak”.
Responding to Trump’s remarks, about Canada the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said that, “Canadians are polite and reasonable, but we will also not be pushed around,” indicating that it will not give in to the US pressure.
The EU spokesperson said that EU would “continue to stand up for an international rules-based, multilateral system”. He added: “For us, Pacta sunt servanda” – a Latin phrase meaning “deals must be respected” – as a reference to Mr. Trump’s reneging on the leaders’ communiqué.
