Reader asks should Putin be our guest

Vox Pop

With U.S. intelligence reports alleging Russian bounties on American soldiers now in the news, we are forced to question the integrity of our commander-inchief.

It has long been known that President Trump’s attention span during his daily briefing is brief at best, but it seems other world leaders knew of the report so it is safe to assume President Trump did also. It means he knew Vladimir Putin was paying foreign soldiers for every American soldier they killed when he invited Putin to join him as his guest at the G-7 Summit to be held in the U.S.

When Trump met with Putin in Helsinki in 2018, he was asked if he believed U.S. intelligence agencies or Putin about allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. His response was, “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.” It begs the question, if Trump knew of the reports of Russian payments to kill American men and women, did he believe it, or did he ask Putin if it was true?

When the president was questioned about his role in the bungled response to Covid-19 he said, “I don’t take any responsibility at all.” That response did not work then and it will not work now. He is the commander-in-chief, responsible for the lives of American soldiers. He gave a ‘pass’ to Putin when Russia invaded Ukraine and again when the Russians interfered with our elections.

I am not sure what the correct response to this report is, but acknowledging it exists would be a good start. Asking Putin to be a guest on American soil while knowing of this report is as distressing as it is insulting. Where are President Trump’s principles and moral values? They are not in evidence here, if he has any.

Maxine Luchterhand, Unity