Thread by @andrewsweiss

Once again: Trump is parroting Kremlin talking points. Who on earth could have planted this riff in his head about tiny Montenegro possibly starting World War III? #ThisIsNotNormal 🤔1/

https://twitter.com/ccaryl/status/1019544026968715265

Trump was asked by Tucker Carlson: "Let’s say Montenegro — which joined [NATO] last year — is attacked. Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?” 2/

Trump responds: "I’ve asked the same question. You know, Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people… they might get aggressive, and congratulations, you’re in World War 3." 3/

Funny thing: back in April when Trump was insisting "Nobody has been tougher on Russia," the White House issued a press release to back that claim up. It was entitled: "President Donald J. Trump Is Standing Up To Russia’s Malign Activities" whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat… 4/

In the section on "Responding to Russian Aggression," Trump's team explains that "Russia has led a sustained global campaign to undermine the sovereignty and security of the United States and our allies." So far, so good. 5/

Their indictment of Russian actions is comprehensive and, quite commendably, pulls no punches. "Russia interfered in Western democratic elections in 2016 and 2017" "For more than a decade, Russia has assassinated opponents across the world" 6/

In the section describing Russia's 2007 cyber attacks vs Estonia, 2008 war in Georgia, and 2014 invasion of #Ukraine, there's a line that has also been hammered home by none other than VP Pence: Russia also " supported a coup attempt in Montenegro in 2016" 7/

Senior members of this administration for 18 months have insisted that we should simply tune out the crazy pro-Russian stuff Trump says and look at the "actual" policy. 8/

That facade is over. END/