From Pandering to Putin to abuse the allies and ignore their advisers, US officials are alarming on Trump’s phone

The calls are often in their dealings with foreign leaders, as noted by the two sources, including the national security advisers HR McMaster and John Bolton, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and White House general manager John Kelly, and intelligence officials. it was delusional. Sources said there was little evidence that the President was more talented or competent in phone calls with most heads of state over time. Rather, he continued to believe that he could do his charm, jaw, or bully to surrender to the will of almost any foreign leader, and often pursued his goals, which were more in tune with his own agenda than the top interests of most senior advisors.

According to sources, the highest number of Trump’s phone calls with an individual head of state was with Erdogan, who sometimes called the White House at least twice a week and was directly waiting for the President from Trump. Meanwhile, the President regularly bullied and humiliated the leaders of America’s major allies, especially two women: he told British Prime Minister Theresa May that she was weak and had no courage; and they told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that she was “stupid”.

According to sources, Trump boasted of his own wealth, genius, “great” achievements as President, and “stupidity” of the Oval Office, as president, including Saudi Arabia’s autocratic royal heir Mohammed bin Salman and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. precursors.

In a conversation with both Putin and Erdogan, Trump enjoyed enjoying throwing ex-Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in the trash and said that dealing directly with him – Trump – would be much more efficient than previous governments. “They didn’t know BS,” said Bush and Obama – a few cynical tropes said sources were in favor when discussing cynical Turkish and Russian leaders.

The full, detailed picture drawn by CNN’s Trump’s telephone calls with foreign leaders is consistent with some key elements of the limited number of calls announced by the core tenor and the former national security adviser. John Bolton in his book, “The Room That Is.” However, the calls described to CNN cover a much longer time than Bolton’s tenure, much more comprehensive and seemingly harmful in their scans.

Like Bolton, CNN’s sources said that the President is constantly linking his personal interests with the national interest – especially for re-election and revenge against perceived critics and political enemies.

CNN will not reveal job titles or propose directly for a long period of time to maintain the anonymity of those disclosing calls for this report. CNN sources said that more than a dozen officers listened to the President’s phone calls in real time or provided detailed summaries and rough text recording output shortly after the calls were completed. Sources have been discussed repeatedly by CNN over a four-month period up to June.

Sources talked about some examples that Trump said were acting responsibly and in national interests during phone calls with some foreign leaders. CNN reached Kelly, McMaster and Tillerson for comment and got no response on Monday afternoon. Mattis did not comment.

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The White House did not respond to the request for comment Monday afternoon.

Russia, Turkey, Canada, a person who is almost familiar to all negotiations with Australia and leaders of Western Europe, calls for a cumulative US national security interests are so sad that, if witnessed members of Congress to actual conversation or when you read the text and contemporary notes, many Republican members even he could not maintain his confidence in the President.

Attacking key allied leaders – especially women

The insidious influence in the conversations comes from Trump’s tone, according to sources, as he is driven over authoritarian powers, with violent eruptions in his allies, lack of history and unpreparedness. One of the CNN sources, while he was on duty at the time – National Intelligence Director Dan Coats said the subordinates were concerned that Trump’s phone calls undermined the consistent behavior of foreign affairs and American targets around the world. And in recent weeks, former chief of staff Kelly spoke of the President’s calls on US national security specifically to the detrimental effect of several people.

The two sources compared most of the President’s conversations with foreign leaders to Trump’s latest press “briefings” about the coronavirus pandemic: free form, unrealistic stream of consciousness, fantasy based on intuition, and off-the-wall reports, forecasting, views of Fox News TV servers. and social media misinformation.

In addition to Merkel and May, sources regularly bullied and humiliated other leaders of the western alliance during their phone calls, Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In the same hostile and aggressive manner, he discussed the coronavirus with some governors.

Besides President Erdogan, no foreign leader has initiated any more calls from Trump and Macron, according to sources that the French President is often concerned with environmental and security policy issues, including climate change and the US withdrawal from Iran’s multilateral nuclear energy. trying to persuade to change the route. Contract.

While Macron often had “nowhere” on important matters, Trump was irritated by the French President’s request flow, exposing him to self-serving harangs and lessons, specifically defined as a source personalized verbal “whipping” about France and other countries. Failure to meet NATO spending goals, liberal immigration policies, or trade imbalances with the United States.

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However, the most brutal attacks by the sources were directed against women heads of state. During talks with both May and Merkel, the President denied and rejected them in proofs identified as “almost sadistic” by one of the sources and approved by others. “Some things she said to Angela Merkel are amazing. She called her ‘stupid’ and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians … She’s the hardest [in the phone calls] It looks at the weak and the weak and the weak. ”

“Very unusual” calls to a German official confirmed that special measures were taken in Berlin to ensure their content remains confidential. The officer described Trump’s behavior in calls with Merkel as “very aggressive,” and German officials who followed Merkel’s calls with Trump said his circle was shrinking: “This is a small cycle of people involved, and the main reason is that they are really problematic. ”

Trump’s speeches in May British Prime Minister From 2016 to 2019, he was described as “humiliating and bullying”, Trump Brexit “stupidly” and infinitely attacked him in his approach to NATO and immigration issues.

“She would be nervous about something related to Theresa May, then she would be disgusting with her on the phone call.” Said. “The same interaction in any environment – coronavirus or Brexit – with no filter applied.”

Merkel remained calm and stood calmly against Trump’s attacks – like water from the back of a duck – with words from a single source – and regularly welcomed her blush with the words of the truth. The German official quoted above said that Mumpel had “very controversial behavior” during his visit to the White House two years ago. [T]The chancellor was really calm, and that’s what she did on the phone. “

On the contrary, the prime minister “flushed and nervous” during his meetings with the President. “It scared and meant it openly,” one of the CNN sources said. Said. In response to a request for comment on Trump’s behavior in calls in May, Britain’s Downing Street redirected CNN to its website. The site lists brief descriptions of the content of some calls and does not mention tone or tension. While the French embassy in Washington avoided comment, Russian and Turkish embassies did not respond to requests for comment.

Concerns about talks with Putin and Erdogan

Interviews with Putin and Erdogan were almost never prepared substantially for Trump, so that he was particularly daring in terms of sources, partly because they were likely to be used in various ways (as in most heads of state). ), almost certainly recorded by security services and other agencies of their country.

Sources reported, during telephone conversations with Putin, the President often spoke with him, often in high-level, self-aggravating terms: to determine his “unprecedented” success in building the US economy; Claiming how smarter and “stronger” he was in the obvious language than the “imbecile” and “weaknesses” preceding him in the presidency (especially Obama); Violent court review of Putin’s admiration and approval in his experience of managing Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow. A high-level management official said Putin “just surpasses him” – compared the Russian leader with a chess grandmaster and occasional checkers. While Putin “destabilizes the West”, the US President “sits there and thinks that Putin can build himself adequately as a businessman and tough guy he respects.” (Sometimes, Putin-Trump talks sounded like “two men in the steam bath”, a source was added.)

In numerous calls to Putin and CNN, Trump was less surprised by his high-level national security assistants and chiefs of staff because of his concessions rather than asking for Putin’s admiration to be extraordinarily eager and seemingly approved. while often ignoring important policy expertise and key issues on the agenda, including human rights; and, according to CNN’s sources, an arms control agreement that is not addressed in a way to advance the common Russian and American goals that both Putin and Trump support.

Throughout his presidency, Trump developed the theme of “America First” as the northern star in foreign policy, and developed the view that America’s allies and competitors benefited from the economic advantages of US goodwill in trade. And America’s closest allies need to increase their share in collective defense spending. He often justifies his appearance on Putin, arguing that Russia is an important world player and that it is in the US interest to have a constructive and friendly relationship that requires a reset with Moscow through his personal dialogue with Putin.

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In separate interviews, two senior management officials familiar with most of the Trump-Putin calls, a second-class totalitarian state of the President with less than 4% of the world’s GDP, and the US Congress of its almost authoritarian leader, American intelligence. Equality with the US and the President, undermining Russia’s tougher, more realistic view, expressed by the long-standing post-war policy agreement of its agencies and US and European allies. “HE IS [Trump] “It gives the advantage gained hard in the Cold War,” said one of the officials – partly “giving Putin and Russia a legitimacy they never had.” “Russia has been given a lifeline – because there is no doubt there is a diminishing power … It plays with something it doesn’t understand and gives them the power to use [aggressively]. ”

Both officials Trump’s decision to remove US troops from Syria – Turkey and Russia a beneficial move – perhaps showed the most severe examples. “He gave the store,” said one.

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The frequency of calls made with Erdogan, with whom the Turkish president constantly presses Trump for policy concessions and other favors, was particularly alarming for McMaster, Bolton and Kelly due to Erdogan’s ease of skipping the normal National Security Council. It was stated that two of the resources were included for the protocol and procedures to reach the President.

Erdogan, knowing that they will get when you directly to the President that it was mastered, some White House aides, Turkey’s security services of Trump’s programs in Washington and persuade them to give information about where to find that Erdogan will make the President when talks they have.

In some cases, Erdogan reached him on the golf course and Trump delayed the game while extending the game.

The two sources announced that the President was relentlessly informed about the Syrian conflict in general and the history of the Middle East, and said he frequently caught the guard and did not have enough information for equal terms in the nuanced policy debate with Erdogan. “Erdogan took him to the cleaners,” one of the sources said.

Sources, including the U.S. directive on Syria, including the U.S. directive to take US forces out of the country, allowing the U.S. to fight the ISIS and allowing it to attack Kurds that weaken NATO’s role in the conflict, He said that harmful policy decisions about Syria are direct. He was linked to Erdogan’s ability to continue on his way with Trump in his phone calls.

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Trump occasional Erdogan was angry – sometimes because of demands to gain preferential trade status of Turkey and the Turkish leader arrested an American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, 2016 coup in ‘aiding terrorism’ accused Erdogan of speed. Brunson was finally released in October 2018.

Sources, although most of Erdogan’s calls are not notified in advance, there are computerized texts of the speeches, as well as the full set of contemporary notes from notebooks set in the White House.

According to a high-level source, the President’s discussions with Erdogan also have existing summaries and speech readings that could bolster Bolton’s claims regarding the “Halkbank case” against Trump, a large Turkish bank with suspicion about Erdogan. and her family. This source said the problem was raised in multiple phone calls between Erdogan and Trump.

Bolton wrote in his book, in Erdogan’s call in December 2018, that Trump proposed to interfere with the US Attorney Southern District Geoffrey Berman’s investigation into the US bank accused of violating sanctions against Iran.

“Trump later told Erdogan that he would take care of things, that the Southern District prosecutors did not have people, but rather the Obama people, a problem that would be fixed when they were replaced with their people.” Berman’s office finally brought an indictment against the bank in October 2019 for other crimes related to fraud, money laundering and other billions of participation in a billions of dollars plan to avoid US sanctions against Iran. On June 20, Trump fired Berman, who also investigated the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, after refusing to resign from the administration of prosecutor Attorney General William Barr.

Unlike Bolton, CNN sources did not claim or suggest that Trump’s calls with Erdogan could be a reason for accusation, because of possible evidence that the President could illegally conduct it. On the contrary, they described Trump’s calls with heads of state in total as evidence of Trump’s general “inappropriateness” for the presidency due to temperament and inadequacy, Bolton made a claim last week in an interview with ABC News to promote his book: Bolton, “Suitable for the office I don’t think he has the power to run the business. ” Said.

Family feedback and complaints feed Trump’s approach

CNN spoke with sources familiar with the President’s telephone conversations over a four-month period. In their interviews, the sources took great care not to disclose specific national security information and classified details – rather, they explained the broad content of most calls and the overall tenor and methodology of Trump’s approach to phone calls with foreign leaders.

In addition to the rough, voice-generated software transcription, almost all of Trump’s phone calls with Putin, Erdogan and the leaders of the western alliance were supported and documented by comprehensive contemporary note-taking (and often summaries) prepared by lawmaker Fiona Hill. Until last year he resigned and vice president of senior NSC in Europe and Russia. Hill listened to most of the President’s calls with Putin, Erdogan and European leaders, according to his clear statement before the Assembly Intelligence Committee last November.

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Sources said that elements of this statement made by Hill could provide a detailed road map of the President’s comprehensive documented speeches, if it is re-examined by Congressional investigators. As the White House and intelligence officials are familiar with voice-generated transcriptions and essential documents, they agreed that if the content is disclosed in great detail, the President may be destructive in both parties’ position with the Congress members and the public. (Sources are not skeptical that Trump will activate executive privileges to keep talks confidential. However, some former officials with detailed information about most of the talks may be willing to testify about them.

In one of the first calls between Putin and Trump, President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were in the room to listen – they joined a State Department alongside McMaster, Tillerson, Hill, and Tillerson.

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“The call is everywhere,” said an NSC deputy who read a detailed summary of the conversation – Putin improved himself significantly and prolongedly, and with Trump’s short autobiographical eruptions against boasting, congratulating and praising. As described in CNN, Kushner and Ivanka Trump were immediately influential in how Trump handled the call – Tillerson and McMaster (who knew Putin well from his years as an oil manager in Russia) approached with suspicion.

Hill, the author of a precise Putin biography, began to explain some of the nuances that CNN perceived from the call, according to his sources – he was trying to accomplish the call to Putin’s psychology, his typical “properly speaking” and linear approach, and to the Russian leader. It was interrupted by Hill Trump and continued to discuss the meeting with President, Jared and Ivanka, and clearly stated that Hill wanted to hear the congratulatory evaluation of her daughter and her husband rather than how Tillerson or McMaster evaluated the speech.

According to sources, McMaster saw that the early telephone conversation with Putin was an indication of the entire relationship between Russia and the Trump administration – as a result, national security advisers and staff chiefs, and many high-level intelligence officials: military and diplomatic, even at the highest levels, unlike previous administrations. There were relatively few meaningful agreements among professionals, because Trump, who was distrustful of experts and refused to inform him, largely engaged with Putin. and almost entirely on its own. Finally, Putin and the Russians learned that “no one has the authority to do anything” – and as one of the CNN sources said, the Russian leader took advantage of this advantage.

Kushners was also present for other important calls with foreign leaders, and clearly demonstrated his priority, encouraged by the President, even on foreign policy issues that his daughter and her husband had no experience with. According to CNN’s sources, almost Trump would not read the briefing materials prepared for him by CIA and NSC staff before negotiating with heads of state.

“He won’t consult them, he won’t even get his wisdom,” one of the sources said, pointing to Saudi Arabia bin Salman close to the top of the list of leaders Trump prepared and prepared. “A scenario that often confronts with NSC and intelligence aids. The source added that the helpers ” desperate reaction ‘would be’ often ‘Oh my god, don’t make that phone call’.

One of CNN’s sources said, “Trump’s view is a better character judge than anybody.” Said. The president has consistently rejected the US recommendations of defense, intelligence and national security chiefs to approach the Russian president more firmly and with less confidence. CNN sources cited the most important public example as “symbolic”: Trump stood next to the President of Russia at his meetings in Helsinki, Finland in June 2018 and said “why he won’t see any reason” in the 2016 presidential elections – Moscow Despite the findings of the entire US intelligence community. “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,” Trump said. Said.

What characterizes Trump’s conversations with both authoritarian dictators and leaders of the world’s greatest democracies is his constant, overwhelming dynamic, the defining subject and subtext of calls, constantly defending himself – hardly any US and historical place and leadership in the world, according to sources closely familiar with searches. .

In countless calls with leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Australia and Canada – the entire post-war era, America’s closest allies of the past 75 years – Trump has typically created a complaint as almost the default or leitmotif of speech. According to these sources, the so-called agenda.

“Everything has always been personalized, everyone is doing terrible things to smash us – which meant dismantling ‘me’ – Trump – off. He couldn’t see or see the bigger picture,” he said. US official.

The source has been prominently shown that Trump resisted Angela Merkel (at the call of Britain) to ask Russia of the alleged ‘Salisbury’ radioactive poisonings of an ancient Russian spy and daughter to whom Putin refused. On the contrary, Russian participation, despite voluminous evidence. One source said that Trump was working hard to bring the issue up. Rather than addressing Russia’s responsibility for poisoning and keeping it international, Trump focused on the call in personal and destructive terms – the so-called dead approach of Germany and Merkel’s allied burden sharing. In the end, Trump ultimately addressed the issue of poisoning almost as roughly as the resources demanded by the NSC staff.

“With almost every problem, [in his phone calls] Someone who wants him to do something as President on behalf of the United States and doesn’t see it that way; goes to break off; not interested in collaborative issues or working together; instead, it is misleading things or pushing real problems around the corner. ”

“There was no point in speeches as ‘Team America’ or the US as a historical force with certain democratic principles and leadership of the free world.” It seemed that the USA had disappeared. It was always ‘Just me.’

CNN’s Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.

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