President Trump took aim at his 'Russiagate' critics on Saturday, tweeting that he has been "FAR tougher on Russia" than his predecessors, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, but adding that he expects to see "good relations" between the US and Russia "someday."
I have been FAR tougher on Russia than Obama, Bush or Clinton. Maybe tougher than any other President. At the same time, & as I have often said, getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. I fully expect that someday we will have good relations with Russia again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 12 января 2019 г.
The president tweeted the remark after taking aim at the "Failing New York Times" and "the corrupt former leaders of the FBI," who reportedly opened a probe to find out if Trump was "secretly working on behalf of Russia" after he fired director James Comey in 2017.
Trump's Democratic opponents have continually accused him of being beholden to Russia during the 2016 race and throughout his two years in office, despite multiple policy decisions which Moscow has vigorously criticised. These include his decision to repeatedly bomb Syria, expand anti-Russian sanctions, close Russian consulates, expel diplomats, expand NATO's presence along Russia's borders in Eastern Europe, and threaten to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a key arms control treaty agreed on by the United States and the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War.
