If Putin bet on Trump, he bet wrong

The Russians don't have a Manchurian candidate in the White House. They have a totally unpredictable wild card.

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

If the Russian government actively colluded with Donald Trump's presidential campaign to steal the election from Hillary Clinton — a claim of which I remain unconvinced — they are probably suffering from a serious case of buyer's remorse right about now.

The new sanctions on Russia handed down by the Republican Congress, and backed by President Trump, will be crippling for the Russian economy and hard on many American businesses as well (including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's former employer). More important, the language of the sanctions puts Russia on the same level as Iran and North Korea as enemies of the United States rather than curmudgeonly partners whose quirks have to be navigated with care and sensitivity. The days when George W. Bush could say that he had looked into Vladimir Putin's soul and seen a fundamentally good man, a statesman with whom it was possible to do business, or when Barack Obama could mock Mitt Romney about stealing his Russia-antagonizing foreign policy from the '80s, are over.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.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.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.