In a recent conversation with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Trump warned that the US is prepared to win any arms race that Russia may instigate.
News that Russia has developed a new missile, capable of quickly reaching all corners of the US, “really got under the President’s skin,” according to a White House Aide. In a tense call with Putin, Trump vowed that the US would not back down from reciprocal arms development – even if it means another cold war.
“If you want to have an arms race we can do that,” Trump warned, “But I’ll win.”
These comments were made on the same call that Trump made to Putin to congratulate him for his recent reelection. Despite the dire warning he had to give, Trump said it was “a very good call”, and he had plans on meeting Putin soon.
As for Putin’s recent election, international vote monitors reported that the voting was flawed, and marred by corruption and suppression of opposition political parties. In fact, Trump was repeatedly warned by advisors to not make the congratulatory call to Putin for this exact reason.
A day after the call with Putin, President Trump tweeted that improving the relationship between the United States and Russia “is a good thing.”
“I called President Putin of Russia to congratulate him on his election victory (in past, Obama called him also). The Fake News Media is crazed because they wanted me to excoriate him. They are wrong! Getting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing”
His tweet continued;
“…..They can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race. Bush tried to get along, but didn’t have the “smarts.” Obama and Clinton tried but didn’t have the energy or chemistry (remember RESET). PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!”
The tensions present between the West and Russia have intensified over the past year – as certain Mainstream Media outlets insist Trump take an aggressive and warlike stance towards Russia. These voices have only intensified after Russia assassinated one of their retired spies, who was living in England. In retaliation for that attack, Russian diplomats and officials were kicked out of the US and a number of European countries.
President Trump expelled around sixty Russian officials from the United States, and similar efforts were carried out by 2 dozen additional countries.
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, declared on Thursday that Moscow would expel sixty diplomats from the U.S, and close down the American consulate in St. Petersburg in response to the event. He claimed that the same action would be taken by the Russian government for countries that expelled diplomats from Russia as well.
Although Trump has stated many times that he wants to improve relations with Russia, it seems things are moving in the opposite direction – is a new Cold War Arms Race on the horizon?
