Sullivan has been wrong all along about Putin's best friend—Trump
There were several developments in the past week in Sen. Dan Sullivan’s never-ending fantasy that President Donald Trump is not in bed with Putin, all evidence to the contrary.
Sullivan boasted to Alaskans last Thursday that he “led the effort” to get the Russia sanctions bill approved by Congress, a bill he has promoted for more than a year-and-a-half as the secret to getting more leverage over Putin.
But the next day Trump dumped all over the new Russia sanctions law, ignoring the will of Congress and granting a lifeline to Putin.
Trump’s decision proved once more that Sullivan has been wrong about Trump and Putin.
“Mr. Trump is now Mr. Putin’s best friend in the world, after perhaps China’s Xi Jinping,” the Wall Street Journal editorial page said, adding that it appears Trump wants Ukraine to surrender on terms set by Putin.
Trump is building a “budding alliance with the Kremlin against Ukraine, Europe and American interests,” the Murdoch-owned newspaper said.
Part of that budding alliance with the Kremlin is Trump’s move to allow Russian sales of diesel fuel, remove sanctions and punish the people of Ukraine.
Sullivan claimed he didn’t sign a protest letter from Sen. Lisa Murkowski and others objecting to that decision by Trump because no one had shown him the letter. He could have written his own letter or expressed support for the letter, but he failed to do so.
A Sullivan campaign flunky did release a flatulent communique that didn’t challenge Trump at all, though Sullivan professed a belief that “American energy dominance is the answer to high prices, and that means producing more of it in Alaska, for Alaskans, by Alaskans, not importing it from Russia.”
Contrast that blabber with this sentence from the letter signed by Murkowski and 11 other members of Congress to Trump: “The deal you struck with President Vladimir Putin on October 9th will not achieve just ends, nor will it benefit Americans.”
A reporter from POLITICO asked Sullivan about the prospect of Russian imports, wondering “In light of Trump’s decision to import Russian diesel, did Sullivan think the Trump administration was being too friendly with Russia?”
It was an easy question, the kind that stumps Sullivan.
“I thought you were asking me campaign stuff,” Sullivan complained. “Is this like a hit piece or what?”
It was not like a hit piece or what.
“I know my view on Russia. I’m very hawkish on Russia,” Sullivan said, pointing to this ancient opinion column published in 2019 that praised Trump.
Sullivan should read what he wrote all those years ago because he was dead wrong then and now.
“Facts are stubborn things, and when it comes to Russia and Vladimir Putin, actions speak louder than words,” Sullivan claimed in 2019, trying to make the case that Trump is Putin’s enemy.
Sullivan’s default position as a Trump Yes Man is that whatever Trump says about Ukraine and Russia is correct, regardless of whether Trump is lying, catering to Moscow or contradicting himself.
Sullivan said seven years ago it was time to “put to bed another persistent and pernicious narrative: that the president and his administration have been ‘soft’ on Russia.”
As Putin’s bestie, Trump has abandoned the idea of sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine, which had been a clear U.S. policy since 2022, starting under former President Biden, the man who Sullivan claims did not do enough to help Ukraine.
What is persistent and pernicious is the stubborn Sullivan narrative that Trump is the tough guy in dealing with Putin.
In a rambling joint Fox New weekend interview, Sullivan did not dare criticize Trump’s decision to abandon sanctions and tariffs on Russia at length, but Sen. Ted Cruz said Trump’s move was a mistake that would benefit Putin. Cruz did the talking, while Sullivan did the nodding.
The Fox News host suggested that maybe Trump was listening on Air Force One and asked if the two men would tell Trump to not waive sanctions on Russia. “I would yes,” said Cruz.
“And I would agree with that,” Sullivan said, “But the president has been fantastic on Alaskan energy, American energy, building up our military. These are the hard power things that Putin understands the most, right?”
No, he understands the lifting of sanctions and the immediate financial benefits granted by his friend in the White House.
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