Krauthammer: Trump Has Played Into Putin’s Hand by Congratulating Him; ‘It’s a Smart Move’ by the Russians

RUSH EXCERPT:

KRAUTHAMMER: "I think it’s both. It was a to for for him. It’s become farce Cal. Putin is showing contempt for Obama. He laughs it off. He decides this is so trivial, he isn’t going to retaliate. Which is the Normal thing you do. I love the way he invites American diplomatic kids to the Kremlin. What kid doesn’t dream of a new year’s party at the Kremlin? What American kid doesn’t? Trump I think has sort of played into it. By congratulating Putin. It’s a smart move on the part of the Russians. You put no pressure on trump. You give him the option to drop the sanctions. This is a complete distraction. The sanctions are meaningless. The only ones that matter — even those sanctions are not that severe, are the ones that were imposed on Russia because of Ukraine. The two leading candidates for the French presidency next year are both opposed to those sanctions. Those sanctions are on their last legs. If you worry about sanctions and Russian aggression, that’s where the focus ought to be. These are going to be temporary sanctions on Russia for a few weeks, maybe trump will keep them. As soon as there’s an agreement on anything, some trivial nuclear deal or something, the dropping of the sanctions will be a part of that. This will be a distant memory."