DiscussMormonism.com

I know you like President Obama, but it [the Crimea] was annexed during President Obama’s term. If [Crimea] was annexed during my term I would say, ‘Sorry, folks. I made a mistake. Sorry folks.’ President Obama was helping the Ukraine. Crimea was annexed during his term.

Now it’s a very big area -- a very important area. Russia has its submarine. That is where they do their submarine work and that is where they dock large and powerful submarines, but not as powerful as ours and not as large as ours, but they have their submarines, and President Obama was pure and simply outsmarted. They took Crimea during his term. That was not a good thing. It could have been stopped, it could have been stopped with the right, whatever. It could have been stopped but President Obama was unable to stop it, and it’s too bad.

MeDotOrg wrote:There may be other reasons of which we are not aware. I'm going to be interested in Trump's loans through Deutsche bank.

MeDotOrg wrote:But Trump's recent illogical and skewed explanation of Putin's annexation of the Crimea shows how his narcissism filters out reality. Is this insanity? I suppose it depends on how you define insanity. But increasingly Donald Trump seems to be a prisoner of his own narcissism with respect to his understanding of the world.

Perfume on my Mind wrote:I think it's fair to say he's a delusional maniac.

Gunnar wrote:

Perfume on my Mind wrote:I think it's fair to say he's a delusional maniac.

Any who still doubt that at this point, or, at least, fail to suspect it, are themselves delusional.

Trump slow-walks Ukraine military aid meant to contain Russia

The Trump administration is slow-walking $250 million in military assistance to Ukraine, annoying lawmakers and advocates who argue the funding is critical to keeping Russia at bay.

President Donald Trump asked his national security team to review the funding program, known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, in order to ensure the money is being used in the best interest of the United States, a senior administration official told POLITICO on Wednesday.

But the delays come amid questions over Trump’s approach to Russia, after a weekend in which the president repeatedly seemed to downplay Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine and pushed for Russia to be reinstated into the Group of Seven, an annual gathering of the world’s largest advanced economies. The review is also occurring amid a broader internal debate over whether to try and halt or cut billions of dollars in foreign aid.

United States military aid to Ukraine has long been seen as a litmus test for how strongly the American government is pushing back against Moscow.

The Trump administration in 2017 approved lethal arms sales to Ukraine, taking a step the Obama administration had never done. The move was seen as a sign that Trump’s government was taking a hard-line approach to a revanchist Vladimir Putin despite the president’s public rhetoric flattering the Russian leader. Scaling back that assistance could expose Trump to allegations that his policies are favoring Moscow.

For the 2019 fiscal year, lawmakers allocated $250 million in security aid to Ukraine, including money for weapons, training, equipment and intelligence support. Specifically, Congress set aside $50 million for weaponry.

Now, that funding is being called into question. The senior administration official, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss internal matters, said the president wants to ensure U.S. interests are being prioritized when it comes to foreign assistance, and is seeking assurances that other countries are “paying their fair share.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and national security adviser John Bolton are among the officials reviewing the Ukraine security funding.

The explanation isn’t sitting well with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where members of both parties have pushed to increase military assistance to Ukraine and U.S. military efforts to deter Russia in Eastern Europe.

There is "an at least temporary effect," said Rep. Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The bigger problem is that Trump is once again showing himself to be an asset to Russia.