Donald Trump was determined during his presidency to Vladimir Putin despite objections from advisers, a former top adviser claims in a new book, according to an excerpt published Saturday.
Donald Trump (right) was determined to curry favor with Vladimir Putin (left) during his presidency despite the objections of his advisers, a former top adviser claims in a new book, according to an excerpt published on Saturday. © EMMANUEL DUNAND, JIM WATSON / AFP
The new behind-the-scenes details from HR McMaster, Trump’s second national security adviser, come as Americans are set to decide whether the former president should return to the White House and as U.S. officials warn of renewed foreign election interference.
“After more than a year in this office, I cannot understand Putin’s power over Trump,” McMaster told his wife in March 2018 in an excerpt from his memoirs published in the Wall Street Journal.
McMaster, a former lieutenant general, became Trump’s national security adviser in February 2017. He says that from the start, discussions about Vladimir Putin and Russia were “difficult to talk to the president.”
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He says Trump has linked “all issues involving Russia” to the federal investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to Trump’s campaign, an investigation that would accompany his entire presidency.
McMaster says an “overconfident” President Trump tried to improve relations with Russia early in his term by building a personal relationship with Putin.
But the Russian president, “a ruthless former KGB agent, used flattery to exploit Trump’s ego and insecurities,” says McMaster.
“Trump has revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his preference for strongmen and his belief that he alone can build a good relationship with Putin,” he added.
McMaster described several frictions with Trump over his treatment of Putin, which ultimately led to his dismissal.
After Putin was elected to a fourth term in March 2018, Trump wanted to congratulate him by phone, according to McMaster, but told the president that the election had been rigged. Nevertheless, a phone call was arranged.
The then US President Donald Trump (l.) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (r.) shake hands before attending a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. © Yuri KADOBNOV/AFP
McMaster says Trump warned Putin before his call that the Kremlin might interpret the conversation as tacit support for the electoral process and to burnish the image of Russia, which at the time was suffering from an assassination attempt on British soil.
He said he asked Trump: “If Russia is trying to delegitimize our legitimate elections, why would you help them legitimize their illegitimate elections?”
Nevertheless, Trump called Putin, congratulated him and then asked to invite the Russian president to the White House.
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Trump’s dislike of McMaster, he said, was because “I was the primary voice telling him that Putin was using him and other politicians from both parties to undermine Americans’ faith in our democratic principles, institutions and processes.”
McMaster was replaced just a few days later by John Bolton, who was also fired about a year and a half later.
While Trump had four national security advisers during his time in office, President Joe Biden has had one since taking office in 2021.
“With Donald Trump, almost all of them are used up, and my time has come,” McMaster wrote.
