World leaders are seeing how Donald Trump welcomed Vladimir Putin onto U.S. soil with “a literal red carpet” and are ridiculing him for it, according to Foreign Policy editor-in-chief and MSNBC contributor Ravi Agrawal.
During a segment on MSNBC Friday, Agrawal and host Katy Tur explained that leaders around the world take note for how Trump “lights up” and treats Putin when the two are together. That compared to how the president treats democratically elected representatives is more than a little telling.
“That way that he embraces and lights up when he sees Vladimir Putin, [who is] not our ally, who we have a hostile relationship with, is so different, and I think it’s so hard to understand,” Tur said.
“If you are any leader anywhere in the world right now, you’re looking at this and you see two things,” Agrawal said. “One is that the rules don’t matter. Friendships don’t matter, democracy doesn’t matter.”
Agrawal continued: “And America, which stood up for these things—stood up for the rules-based order—didn’t sign up to the ICC and has a war criminal on its soil, has mistreated democratically elected leaders, but welcomes Vladimir Putin with a robust handshake and a literal red carpet, which you do not see with other leaders in the same way. That symbolism is very important for Putin back home, but also very important for other leaders around the world as they look at what gets valued and what doesn’t.”
It is not just world leaders giving Trump a hard time for how he treats Putin and their endlessly memeable relationship. “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon took a few shots at the pair and their meeting location in Alaska on Thursday.
“Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin is almost here, and today, Trump warned that Russia will face severe consequences if Putin doesn’t agree to end the war,” Fallon said as he teed the bit up. “You have severe consequences? Putin responded, ‘Like, what, a second meeting? Forget this.’”
Fallon continued: “Trump is hosting Putin at a U.S. military base because it’s peak tourist season in Alaska, and the options were limited. This meeting could end a war, and Alaska’s like, ‘Oh, sorry, but the Marriott conference room is all tied up with a rotary club salmon retreat. What are you doing?”
