UPDATE, 4:14 PM: As we were saying, in re reality-tv POTUS and TV news reporters struggling to adjust to a Donald Trump world, the President-Eledct subsequently tweeted this:
PREVIOUS, 1:53 PM: TV news anchors and reporters continue to struggle as they adjust to a reality-TV POTUS, this afternoon reacting with forced credulity to Donald Trump heaping praise on Russia President Vladimir Putin via Twitter, while continuing to dismiss U.S. intelligence reports that Russia was involved in the election-cycle hack of the Democratic National Committee.
This afternoon, about 24 hours after President Barack Obama slapped new sanctions on Russia, Trump tweeted:
The Russian embassy in Washington quickly retweeted Trump’s gush. It came not long after Putin said he would not pursue “irresponsible diplomacy” and instead work to rebuild relations with Washington after Trump’s swearing in. But he reserved the right to respond to Thursday’s new U.S. sanctions, including the expulsion of 35 diplomats from the U.S. The Obama administration said the measures were in response to intelligence that Russia tampered with the U.S. presidential election. The diplomats and their families were given 72 hours to leave the country, and two compounds used by Russia — in Maryland, and in New York — were ordered closed.
“Further steps towards the restoration of Russian-American relations will be built on the basis of the policies carried out by the administration of President Trump,” the Kremlin said in today’s statement.
Trump surrogates have been telling news outlets that Obama’s sanctions are a distraction intended to undermine Trump’s win, and to box in the President-elect.
