Ex-State Dept. Adviser: Putin Sees Trump as Someone He Can Manipulate

A former Bush State Department senior advisor said on CNN tonight that Vladimir Putin might be trying to manipulate Donald Trump by praising him.

Christian Whiton told Don Lemon that Putin’s sort-of endorsement could easily be condemned, but Trump isn’t doing that. He admitted he isn’t the biggest fan of President Obama either, but it’s something entirely different to say a foreign tyrant is better.

Whiton made the case that since Trump is “not great at calculating American national interest,” Putin views Trump as “someone you can manipulate.” After all, Trump really likes people who say nice things about him, no questions asked.

“This is someone,” he concluded, “who is easy to manipulate and that’s something that Putin was probably trained about very well as a young KGB officer.”

Watch above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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