Trump's moves to counter Russia

In PowerLine, Scott Johnson tells us about two columns Mark Thiessen recently wrote for the Washington Post which were also published in AEI. President Trump was interviewed by Thiessen for the columns. In the second column, Trump admitted that in 2018 he authorized a covert cyberattack against Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based troll farm that spearheaded Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and was doing the same in the 2018 midterm elections. Asked whether he had launched the attack, Trump replied: ‘Correct.’”

Thiessen adds: “The cyberattack was previously reported in The Post, but Trump had never officially confirmed it until now. Senior US officials also confirmed for me that the strike occurred and was effective, taking the Internet Research Agency offline.”

Trump authorized a covert cyberattack against Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the St. Petersburg-based troll farm that spearheaded Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and was doing the same in the 2018 midterm elections. Asked whether he had launched the attack, Trump replied: ‘Correct.’”

Thiessen adds: “The cyberattack was previously reported in The Post, but Trump had never officially confirmed it until now. Senior US officials also confirmed for me that the strike occurred and was effective, taking the Internet Research Agency offline.”

During our interview, Trump said the cyberattack was part of a broader policy of confronting Russia throughout the world. “Nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have,” he said. The president offered a litany of actions he has taken to counteract Russia. “I could give you 30 different things,” he said. “I sent [Ukraine] a massive number of antitank busters. I sent them military equipment and Obama sent them nothing. That’s against Russia,” he says. “I made us the number one oil-producing country in the world. It wasn’t even close. I made us number one — that’s bad for Russia.”

The president also cited his pressure on Germany to cancel the Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline from Russia and avoid becoming even more dependent on Moscow than it already is. “Germany is paying billions of dollars, billions to Russia,” Trump says. “And we’re supposed to protect Germany from Russia. How does that work?”

But his “biggest” move of all to counter Russia, Trump said, has been his restoration of America’s military: “I rebuilt our military. We now have the newest military we’ve ever had. . . . That’s not good for Russia either. You understand?”