Carl Bernstein: Trump Was 'Delusional' And Outmatched In Calls With Putin And Erdogan [View all]
(HuffPost) One source described the nature of the calls between Trump and Putin as sounding like “two guys in a steam bath.”
President Donald Trump was so unprepared for calls with the leaders of Russia and Turkey that he regularly threatened U.S. national security while boasting about his achievements, CNN’s Carl Bernstein reported Monday.
Over hundreds of calls cited by anonymous sources, Bernstein reports, Trump almost never read briefing material prepared by intelligence agencies and would often take unplanned calls from foreign leaders, flabbergasting top national security advisers.
Two unnamed sources told Bernstein the regularity of the calls and Trump’s behavior led them to believe the president was “delusional” and thought he could charm or bully other leaders into doing what he wanted. At times, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Trump at least twice a week, and there were standing orders to put the calls straight through to Trump. Sources said Trump was almost never prepared and was vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
In regular calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump “mostly talked about himself,” Bernstein reported, while “courting Putin’s admiration and approval.”
“[Trump] gives away the advantage that was hard won in the Cold War,” one official told CNN. “He’s given Russia a lifeline ― because there is no doubt that they’re a declining power. ... He’s playing with something he doesn’t understand and he’s giving them power that they would use [aggressively].”
One source described the nature of the calls between Trump and Putin as sounding like “two guys in a steam bath.”
(Read More) https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-putin-erdogan-cnn-carl-bernstein_n_5efa9d24c5b612083c51d964
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