Mistranslations of Vladimir Putin’s comments about Trump haven’t helped. When Putin called Trump “bright” or “colorful” — as in, a colorful character — it was translated as “brilliant.” Somehow, Trump took this to mean Putin had called him a genius and then went around like a giddy little boy repeating the lie during stump speeches. [...]
It is true that there are many Russian officials who do see Trump as the new messiah. Certain Russian TV personalities spent a year fawning over his every utterance. Some Kremlin supporters, including elected officials, actually held a party to celebrate his win in the Russian state Duma.
It’s also true that the Russian government has openly and enthusiastically welcomed Trump’s comments about improving the relationship with Moscow. But the reality is that the expectations of Russian officials are very low and they’re under no illusions about the new U.S. president. [...]
Trump is unlikely to try and make nice with Russia more than once, and the Kremlin is under no illusions that in the long haul he will be some kind of “pro-Moscow” president. If Trump doesn’t get his way with Putin the first time around, all bets are off. He can’t afford to look soft on Russia (particularly given all the accusations and innuendo floating around), and Putin certainly won’t want to appear to have gotten a bad deal either.
No comments:
Post a Comment