Donald Trump has spoken with Vladimir Putin at least eight times since February. In all those calls, Trump has never brought up to Putin Russia’s program of paying out bounties for the death of American forces in Afghanistan. Instead, says Trump, he and Putin “had plenty of discussion” about “other things.” The nature of those other things was not disclosed, but there may be a clue on Thursday morning as the United States announced that it was withdrawing nearly 12,000 troops from Germany.
Trump may claim that he never spoke to Putin about Afghanistan—despite being aware since 2017 that Russia was funding Taliban militants and having been given at least two subsequent briefings on Russian funding directly intended to result in the murder of U.S. troops. But perhaps an even better question for Trump might be: Did he ever discuss the disposition of American forces overseas with Putin? Because it’s hard to see the move in Germany as anything other than fulfilling a Russian dream.
The formal announcement of the withdrawal of U.S. forces was made on Wednesday morning in a briefing from Defense Secretary Mark Esper. As CNN reports, the plan has generated swift, bipartisan opposition. Forces are to be redistributed to both the United States and elsewhere in Europe, requiring billions of dollars to construct new military bases and housing while leaving facilities in Germany—some of them only a few years old—sitting empty.
As part of the process, the U.S. will also move the headquarters of its European command from Germany to Belgium. Additional forces and headquarters are also on their way from Germany to Belgium or Italy.
Reuters reports that the move is intended to hit Germany, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for failing to spend more on the military as Trump requested. However, the result of this move is that the United States will end up spending billions more, not less, while deploying troops in a position less suited to defend Eastern Europe. The announcement signals a continued weakening of the U.S. presence in NATO, a continued weakening of the U.S. posture toward Russia, and a continued operation of U.S. foreign policy based on the “personal relationship” of Trump and foreign leaders.
With Trump’s frequent conversations with Vladimir Putin on unknown topics, including one that came just days before this redeployment of forces, it’s critical to know: Did Trump talk about the disposition of U.S. forces with the Russian leader? Does this move represent Donald Trump acting out of spite toward Merkel, or fulfilling a commitment to Putin?
Considering that Russia has operated a proxy war against the United States in Afghanistan for years without being challenged, one of the options above is merely disastrous. The other is treason.
