Trump turns toward Russia, breaking with decades of U.S. policy

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

60% : During their meeting, Trump told Zelenskyy he should be much more grateful as the moment grew more tense, ending with the Ukraine leader leaving the U.S. without signing a minerals deal.
59% : I'm aligned with the United States of America, and for the good of the world, I'm aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with," Trump said Friday from the Oval Office, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.
59% : "You got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards," Trump said.
57% : Putin's regime has welcomed the overtures from Trump.
52% : In recent weeks, U.S. officials have made a series of policy changes that seem to herald a more cooperative stance with Russia: Trump has long professed a desire to reset and improve relations with Russia.
44% : In statements reported by Russian state media agency TASS, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trump as a pragmatist who operates with "common sense.
43% : Meanwhile, Trump's administration is standing down on a suite of tough anti-Kremlin policies.
41% : The new posture was put in stark relief on Friday during a tense Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy.
38% : In a post on his Truth Social platform early Monday, Trump defended himself and insisted he had helped keep much of Ukraine intact.
37% : In the weeks since his inauguration, Trump has suggested Ukraine was responsible for Russia's invasion and "started" the war, echoing familiar talking points from the Kremlin.
34% : The president's relationship with Zelenskyy has long been fraught, partly owing to a July 2019 phone call in which Trump pressured the Ukrainian leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter over the latter's position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
33% : Trump is by no means the first president to aim for a less hostile relationship with Moscow, however.
29% : In just over a month, Trump has executed a startling realignment of American foreign policy, effectively throwing U.S. support behind Moscow and rejecting the tight alliance with Kyiv cultivated by former President Joe Biden.
28% : After the call leaked, it helped touch off the first impeachment of Trump.
22% : The feud between continued Monday, with Trump disparaging his Ukrainian counterpart in a post on social media.
20% : " Trump has pushed back on Democrats and other critics who have accused him of deferring to Russia.
18% : " "We see that the collective West has begun to partially lose its unity," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday. Democrats and anti-Trump Republican commentators have sharply criticized the administration, accusing Trump of effectively selling out Ukraine.
4% : Trump's first term was shadowed by former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation -- a probe that Trump has repeatedly dismissed as the "Russia hoax.

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