Trump hums one tune on Russia, his own team sings another

When the subject of Russia comes up, Americans today imagine different things.

There is the revived Cold War view, popular among Democrats for expedient reasons, of a Russian behemoth bent on vicious espionage and subversion of U.S. elections.

There’s a romantic notion stated by several prominent Republicans in recent years that its president, Vladimir Putin, is an admirably “strong leader.”

There’s the negative stereotype of credit-card cloners and internet fraudsters.

There is the realpolitik view that Putin benefits as a U.S. economic rival from these expressions of hostility, that help him unite the loyal in the face of western interference and lectures.

Whatever your take on what all the republics of the former Soviet Union mean to U.S. strategic interests and commerce, the whole relationship right now is bewildering and unclear.

President Donald Trump sets one tone, the rest of the administration, including loyalists reporting directly to him, seems to set another.

Last month Trump said building a “good relationship” is in Americans’ interests. Russia “can help solve problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, ISIS, Iran and even the coming Arms Race,” he said.

He tweeted this by way of explaining why he congratulated Vladimir Putin on his victory in a conventionally fixed election despite advisers urging him not to do so.

Now his administration is tilting toward the hawks.

The administration imposed new sanctions Friday on 38 people and entities tied to Putin. Seven are so-called oligarchs and 17 government officials. Administration officials, unnamed, talked about “malign activities.”

On the list: Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate who once did business with Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, who is under indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller on money-laundering charges.

Areas where Trump says Russia can “help solve problems” were cited by the officials who seemed to be trying to cover all bases.

They cited Putin’s support for the Syrian regime (where Trump says he wants to withdraw the U.S. presence), his regime’s annexation of eastern Ukraine, and meddling in the 2016 election.

Last Tuesday outgoing national security adviser H.R. McMaster said of the U.S., “We have failed to impose sufficient costs.”

Trump said: “Nobody’s been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.”

But he said strong relations with that country “would be a good thing” and reportedly extended an invitation to Putin to visit the White House. On the other hand, he cites a “coming arms race.”

Maybe some day there will emerge a consensus view of what’s going on here. For now the prospects look dim.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.