How a U.S. President Pivoted Toward Russia

Trump bolstered Putin's bargaining position, but the road to this alliance has been years in the making

- Yaroslav Trofimov, Josh Dawsey & Alan Cullison

When President Trump met Russia's Vladimir Putin for their first bilateral summit, in the Finnish capital of Helsinki in July 2018, the two men cloistered themselves for hours with no advisers present.

Once they emerged to a packed news conference, Trump tossed a gift from the Russian president—a soccer ball meant for Trump's son Barron—to the front row where America's senior-most officials sat.

Trump then stunned his team by saying he believed Putin, and not America's own intelligence services, about whether Russia interfered in the 2016 elections that brought him to power.

At the time, the public outcry in Washington—including by the Republican leadership in Congress and his own aides on Air Force One—forced Trump to change course within 24 hours.

Soon, new sanctions against Russia went into effect.

Openly embracing Russia was still toxic at the time.

After all, Trump's first choice for national security adviser, Mike Flynn, had been forced to resign over discussing sanctions relief with the Russian ambassador before the inauguration, and Russia hawks assumed key positions in the new administration.

Those guardrails—in Congress or inside the administration—barely exist today.

"Ukraine is viewed as bad by the base of the party," said Marc Short, a longtime top adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.

"I don't think as much of the Republican Senate cares anymore," Short added, of standing up for Ukraine and countering Putin.

As Trump executed an about-face in American foreign policy in recent days, heaping insults on Ukraine's embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky—including calling him a "dictator"—and repeating Putin's talking points about Europe's deadliest war in seven decades, there was no significant political price to pay, at least so far.

The White House disputed the notion that Trump is soft on Putin.