RUSSIA/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VLADIMIR PUTIN: “Can you have a good relationship with the leader of Russia at the same time you have a bad relationship with the country of Russia? The quest to do exactly that has been at the heart of President Donald Trump’s global strategy. He has tried hard to separate his leader-to-leader relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin (friendly, free from personal criticism) from the considerable problems in the broader U.S.-Russia relationship (increasingly tense, marked by Russian defiance and American sanctions). Now that strategy is being put sorely to the test. In fact, it may have died in a mist of chemicals raining down on civilians in Syria over the weekend.”
–Gerald F. Seib, “Syrian Attack Sends Toxic Cloud Over Trump-Putin Ties,” The Wall Street Journal, April 9, 2018, 10:34 am