Leonid Bershidsky, Columnist

Trump Is Locked in a Macho Contest With Putin

His administration's Russia policy hasn't suddenly turned hostile over Syria: Let's admit it was hawkish from the start.

April 12, 2018 at 9:53 AM UTC

By Leonid Bershidsky

Leonid Bershidsky, formerly Bloomberg Opinion’s Europe columnist, is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation Team. He recently published Russian translations of George Orwell’s “1984” and Franz Kafka’s “The Trial.”

Alpha males. No longer shaking hands.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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In remarks for his confirmation hearing, Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, said "soft policy" toward Russia is "now over." What he means by "now" is the interesting bit.

A false narrative emerging in the U.S. holds that Trump has just recently turned tough on Russia. One look at the long chronology of his administration's hostility toward Putin's Russia should dispel that.