Trump shocks nation with claim about trusting Putin over US intelligence

Since Donald Trump hit the political scene there has been a debate over whether he’s in the pocket of Russian President Vladimir Putin or if he’s just a fool, an argument that has only intensified after the former president’s shocking Truth Social comments on Monday. 

In a move that seemed wholly ill-thought-out, Trump suggested that Americans would be better served trusting Putin over their own intelligence services. 

“Remember in Helsinki when a 3rd rate reporter asked me, essentially, who I trusted more, President Putin of Russia, or our ‘Intelligence’ lowlifes,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. 

“My instinct at the time was that we had really bad people in the form of James Comey, McCabe (whose wife was being helped out by Crooked Hillary while Crooked was under investigation!),” Trump continued. 

“Brennan, Peter Strzok (whose wife is at the SEC) & his lover, Lisa Page. Now add McGonigal & other slime to the list. Who would you choose, Putin or these Misfits?” Trump added. 

While the question “Who would you choose?” might have enraged political moderates and left-wingers alike, the question does make sense for the audience Trump is speaking to according to The Independent’s Washinton correspondent John Bowden.

"It’s an example of the kind of comment that will gin up excitement and agreement from Mr. Trump’s hardcore base of supporters,” Bowden wrote.

Bowden added, however, that Trump's comment would also “alienate potential allies in Washington as he pursues a third bid for the presidency.”

The former president is likely to face a host of new faces on the campaign trail this year, one of which could be the former CIA director Mike Pompeo according to Bowden. 

Trump may not be as dim-witted as we think then, if he’s already casting suspicion on his potential GOP primary rivals. But how will he fare in the general election with comments that seemingly praise America’s current number-one enemy?

Phillip Elliot of Time Magazine believes we’re likely to see more toxicity from Trump this time around after analyzing the former president's 2024 primary campaign kickoff keynote speech in New Hampshire.

“The event’s tone and substance suggested the looming two-year campaign is going to match—if not surpass—the toxic tone of his past attempts,” Elliot wrote.

“He has been marinating in exile for the last two years, imagining his revenge comeback and stewing in his grievances,” Elliot added. 

It would seem then, that Trump has made the American intelligence community one of his prime targets for his rage and toxicity this year, regardless of how it might affect the future of the American people or the war in Ukraine. 

The former president has never been a fan of how Joe Biden has handled the war in Ukraine, and he also believes he can do a better job—recently stating that he would end the conflict "within 24 hours" through negotiation with Putin.

Trump's Monday Truth Social post wasn't the first time he's backed Putin over the interests of the American people.

In 2021, the former president wrote in a June 10th statement that "it should be obvious" who he trusts more when choosing between Russia and America's intelligence agencies. So maybe he is just a fool after all...