Relations between the United States and Russia were at a delicate stage in March 2018. Vladimir Putin’s government stood accused of launching a poison-gas assassination attempt on British soil; the White House had just announced sanctions against Russia in response to its attack on our elections; and the Kremlin had just orchestrated a sham election that kept Putin in power.
It was against that backdrop that Donald Trump was scheduled to have a telephone meeting with the Russian leader. The then-American president’s national security team prepared briefing materials, directing Trump to condemn the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. As for Putin’s re-election, the same U.S. officials wrote in all-capital letters, “DO NOT CONGRATULATE.”
Trump ignored his team, made no mention of the poisoning, and congratulated Putin as if the Russian election had been legitimate. The incident was striking for a variety of reasons, and it made clear that when it comes to his autocratic allies abroad, the Republican likes to issue congratulatory declarations.
In fact, something similar happened late last week. Mediate noted:
Former President Donald Trump congratulated North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Friday in a terse post on his Truth Social platform. Trump re-shared a post linking to an article about North Korea being elected to serve on World Health Organization’s executive board. ... Congratulations to Kim Jung Un!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, misspelling the [North Korean leader’s] name.
There was no reason for the former president to celebrate North Korea’s new role with the World Health Organization, and many Republicans were quick to criticize the developments with the WHO.
But Trump apparently saw the news and was eager to send congratulatory wishes to his pal in Pyongyang.
The former president’s rivals for the Republicans’ 2024 nomination took note, and as NBC News reported, several of them made clear that they disagreed with Trump’s laudatory message for the North Korean dictator. (Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who is not a candidate but who’s rumored to be eyeing the race, was among those issuing criticisms.)
As for the possible effects of a story like this, it might have more of an impact were it not for the fact that Trump has spent years praising his authoritarian ally. In 2018, for example, the then-American president repeatedly praised Kim, calling the dictator “open,” “honorable,” and “a pretty smart cookie.” Asked by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos whether he trusts Kim, Trump replied, “I do trust him, yeah.” (In the same interview, the president added, in reference to Kim, “His country does love him. His people, you see the fervor. They have a great fervor.”)
Trump’s affection for the North Korean leader reached new heights in October 2018. “We fell in love, OK? No, really,” Trump declared. “He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”
I don’t blame the former president’s intra-party rivals for trying to capitalize on his congratulatory well-wishes for the dictator, but if GOP voters didn’t mind Trump’s gushing support for Kim in the recent past, they probably won’t mind this latest incident, either.