Donald Trump: Casting Doubts on US Intelligence about Russian Cyberattack

Trump and Putin, a better relationship than Putin To Obama

Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, photo taken on 2015-09-29. Photo source Kremlin.ru, licensed under CC BY 4.0

Even though the Obama administration has achieved some positive movements toward Russia over the past 8 years, Obama and Putin have never seen eye to eye on political ground. The recent actions against Russia’s cyber-attacks, interfering with the 2016 US Presidential Election put an end to US effort to keep Russia in the friendly zone. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, said in a statement that despite the measures being overdue "It is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia".

Vladimir Putin played his politic game by withholding his retaliation against US sanctions, waiting for the change of US administration to Russian advantage. He issued his statement regarding to US actions responding to the hacking incident: “Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible ‘kitchen’ diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump administration.”

Donald Trump praised Putin for his delayed tactics in his tweet: “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!”

In Obama’s final press conference, the president warned anyone who might allow Russia to interfere or influence our political culture. He said: “The Russians can't change us or significantly weaken us," he said. "They are a smaller country. They are a weaker country. Their economy doesn't produce anything that anybody wants to buy except oil and gas and arms. They don't innovate. But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are.”