Donald Trump’s “roller coaster”

Recent US media reports say that President Donald Trump has not yet decided to impose new sanctions on Russia, despite the fact that on April 15, Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced them when speaking on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” program. She then stressed that the sanctions would be directed against any sort of companies that were dealing with equipment related to Assad and chemical weapons use, Haley was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The only message from the White House regarding this situation came from its press secretary Sarah Sanders. On board the presidential plane during the president’s trip to Florida, she told reporters that “there is nothing to announce right now.” “The president has been clear that he is going to be tough on Russia, but at the same time he would still like to have a good relationship with them. But that is going to depend on the actions of Russia,” she said, adding that the White House was still evaluating a number of sanctions.

Meanwhile, Haley responded to White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow’s claim that “there might have been some momentary confusion” by saying: “With all due respect, I do not get confused.”

“Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House,” The Washington Post writes. Citing several people familiar with the situation, the publication says that “Trump conferred with his national security advisers and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them.” In addition, administration officials said it was unlikely Trump would approve any additional sanctions without another triggering event by Russia. “The Trump team decided to publicly characterize Haley’s announcement as a misstatement,” the article says. At the same time, it notes that one of White House officials said that Haley “got ahead of herself and made an error that needs to be mopped up.” Meanwhile, other officials expressed skepticism that Haley had merely misspoken, because “she is one of the most disciplined and cautious members of the cabinet, especially when it comes to her public appearances. She regularly checks in with Trump personally to go over her planned statements before she sits for television interviews.”

The New York Times writes that Tramp’s decision means “a course change that underscored the schism between the president and his national security team.” The newspaper cited a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and said that Trump had decided not to go forward with the sanctions since he concluded that they were unnecessary “because Russia’s response to the airstrike was mainly bluster.” “Ms. Haley has been one of the strongest critics of Russia’s behavior around the world, often speaking far more harshly than Mr. Trump would, but she has rarely been reined in publicly this way,” the NYT writes. It also notes that the strike against Syria “was limited to a single night and to three targets linked to chemical weapons facilities.” “It sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad of Syria for the suspected gas attack but avoid provoking Russia into a response,” the report said.

“A consensus emerged Tuesday at the White House and Mar-a-Lago [the location of Trump’s Florida residence. – Ed.] about how to clean up the administration’s suddenly muddled plans to crack down on Russia: Blame Nikki Haley,” writes the CNN.

The Financial Times published an article entitled “US Administration’s Rift on Russia Sanctions Becomes Apparent,” which mentions “a growing schism within the US administration on its Russia policy.” After all, the US president has always argued for a softer approach towards Russia than many of his advisers, including Haley. In addition, FT writes that this event has laid bare tensions that have been beneath the surface for months.

“TRUMP IS NOT PREPARED TO LEAD THE WORLD AS  IT MARCHES TO CONTAIN RUSSIA”

Aliona HETMANCHUK, director, New Europe Center:

“Trump’s behavior on sanctions shows one thing: in his capacity as the US president, he is not prepared to lead the world as it marches to contain Russia. He is ready to do it together with European allies, but never to lead that column.

“I would hazard a guess that we will experience such a roller coaster till the end of the Trump presidency, where Trump’s tough stance will alternate with a conciliatory one. The latter will leave the American president with some sort of an opening a window of opportunity for a future dialog with Vladimir Putin.

“There are good reasons to believe that the Russian president remains an authority for Trump, perhaps mostly a negative one as of late, but still an authority. Russian leaders, too, see this unclear US policy well. The lack of a consolidated approach is used as a signal that the US can at any moment change its mind on Russia, and therefore, the latter does not need to rush to change its aggressive behavior.”

“THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MAY YET IMPOSE MORE SANCTIONS”

John HERBST, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, Atlantic Council; former US Ambassador to Ukraine; Washington, D.C.:

“All we know is that there was talk of additional sanctions by the Administration, Ambassador Haley mentioned it publicly and the White House contradicted her. I would not draw early conclusions about this. The Administration may yet impose more sanctions. It is simply not clear how this will play out.

“It is also worth noting that President Trump initially wanted a stronger US strike on Syria; he was reportedly persuaded by Secretary of Defense Mattis and others to conduct a more modest missile attack.”