Eli Lake, Columnist

Democrats Should Welcome Trump’s Withdrawal From the INF Treaty

What is the point of the U.S. adhering to an agreement that the Russians weren’t honoring?

February 1, 2019 at 9:00 PM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Russian missiles. — Russian missiles.
Photographer: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

No one should be surprised that President Donald Trump has made good on his threat to begin withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. More surprising is the reaction from some leading Democrats.

It was always a long shot that the administration would succeed in negotiations, begun in December, to get Russia to destroy the missiles they illegally fielded under the treaty. And top administration officials such as National Security Adviser John Bolton have never been big fans of arms control.