President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Officially blood in the Potomac, and the sharks are beginning to circle.

Russian forces are encroaching on U.S. troop-controlled territory in eastern Syria — part of what officials say is a deliberate campaign to squeeze the U.S. military out of the region, according to two current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official.

The growing friction between U.S. and Russian troops in Syria comes against a backdrop of deepening mistrust between the national security community and President Donald Trump’s White House over dealings with Moscow. The tension burst into the open last week with revelations that Russia’s secretive military intelligence service offered bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan. Lawmakers demanded answers this week amid bipartisan anger that the Trump administration has known about the bounties for months but has not yet authorized a response to Russia.

Trump has denied being briefed on the bounties, but a Western defense official confirmed the arrangement to POLITICO. Other administration officials have said the intelligence is still being evaluated and have criticized the media for reporting on the issue.

The disclosure of the bounty program has highlighted emerging frictions between the U.S. and Russia in other areas, including in Syria.

For years, the two countries have at times supported opposing sides in the long-running civil war — with Moscow propping up Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Washington eventually supporting Kurdish fighters who have pushed for de facto autonomy from the regime. Yet over the course of the war, the U.S. and Russian militaries have communicated regularly in order to deconflict their respective forces on the crowded Syrian battle space. In the first years of the Trump administration, the White House even pushed the Pentagon to increase cooperation with the Russian military in Syria, three former Trump administration officials said.

The directive was disturbing to some members of the national security community, given that Russia has committed war crimes against civilians in Syria.

“They told us we needed to work with Russia and not just ignore them,” said one of the former officials. “We did it, but limited it to just [deconfliction].” …

Clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria have rarely turned violent, with one notable exception. In a bloody four-hour battle in 2018, American commandos killed 200-300 pro-Syrian government forces, including Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group.

Recently, however, American military leaders in Syria are facing increasingly frequent brushes with Russian troops, according to two U.S. officials and one former U.S. official. Russia is deploying its forces closer and closer to U.S. positions in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria, and the two militaries interact multiple times a week, if not daily, compared to roughly monthly last year, the people said.

So far, the two sides have been able to diffuse these incidents without violence, said one U.S. military officer. But one of the U.S. officials said Russia and its Syrian and Iranian partners are trying to pressure the U.S. out of Syria altogether.

For instance, earlier this month, Breaking Defense reported that Russian and American troops had a standoff that lasted for hours in northeast Syria. A U.S. official confirmed the incident to POLITICO but said it was nonviolent. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported last month that the Russian military was building a new base in northern Syria near the Turkish border.​

That article from Breaking Defense had slipped under the radar when it happened June 3, but you can bet it’s gonna get another look in light of the recent NY Times reporting.

 

You scared? You seem scared.

 

Like the Coronavirus briefings did. They became meaningless and ignored because all they were was a Trump strut fest.

 

Let’s see ‘em answer this one.

“Months ago, Donald Trump learned that the Russians were paying bounties for dead American soldiers in Afghanistan. He chose to do nothing about it. Any commander-in-chief with a spine would be stomping the living shit out of some Russians right now — diplomatically, economically or if necessary with the sort of asymmetric warfare they’re using to send our kids home in body bags.

“Mr. Trump, you’re either a coward who can’t stand up to an ex-KGB goon or or you’re complicit. Which is it?”

 

"We need to send this draft dodger back to his golf courses. The lives of our troops depend on it."

That's gonna leave a mark. Step right up, Donnie.

Twitter will be fun.

 

As of two weeks ago, McGrath had $4 million more than McConnell in campaign funds. I imagine it's far easier for crooked Mitch to find financial support, but who knows?

 

Money won't limit McConnell. He controls the Senate campaign warchest.

 

The CNN story reads very ominously. Trump might be around in November.

That one is going to hurt quite bad.

 

Good. I retweeted it and then posted it on Facebook for good measure. With quotes.

 

White House just announced a 3:30 presser, with about 40 minutes notice at the time it was announced.

Yeah, and they did this in the upper house today:

 

These people are done like dinner. The rest will be fun to watch.

The flow of bad news will be diarrheal by August.