Thread by @andrewsweiss

Sometimes @realDonaldTrump doesn't get enough credit for being transparent about his secret dealings with Putin, including this week's meeting in Helsinki. 1/

Consider this eye-popping exchange with Sean Hannity on Monday about teaming up with Russia on terrorism and to stop “proxy wars.” foxnews.com/transcript/201… 2/

Trump’s answer makes it clear he’s talking about teaming up with Russian in the Middle East and Syria where, U.S. and Russian interests are, putting it mildly, far from congruent. 3/

Russia’s brutal military intervention in Syria certainly helped Assad dodge a bullet, but it won't put that badly broken country on the road to stability any time soon. 4/

On counter-terrorism, US intelligence agencies have plenty of bitter experience since 9/11 from tying to cooperate with Russian counterparts amid an adversarial relationship and a corrosive lack of trust. 5/

This is precisely the kind of Putin initiative that sounds good in principle to inexperienced people like Trump, but is nearly impossible in practice to implement. 6/

Former CIA head of Russia operations @StevenLHall1 wrote a fascinating insider’s account for @CarnegieEndow of the ups and downs in US-Russian intelligence sharing. carnegieendowment.org/2017/02/09/int… 7/

Russians “do not find the Western approach to intelligence sharing compelling; in fact, they find it quaint and perhaps a bit naive. For them, information truly is raw power, and sharing it—even inside the Russian govt—is viewed first and foremost through a political lens.” 8/

Yet Trump has been completely beguiled by these kinds of ideas for more than two years, including the fanciful suggestion that Washington and Moscow are somehow going to be natural partners who can team up to contain Iran. 9/

These ideas were a big part of the secret dealings that Trump, Flynn, Kushner, et al had with Russian, Israeli, and Arab counter-parts throughout the campaign, presidential transition, and early days of Trump’s presidency. Yet none of these ideas stands up to basic scrutiny. 10/

Now we learn, from Trump’s own account, that these ideas were once again front and center in Helsinki. Trump, like the easy mark in a casino, is being oh-so-easily played by a far more experienced player, and seems completely oblivious and content. #ThisIsNotNormal END/