NBC News London correspondent Keir Simmons told Deadline: White House anchor Nicolle Wallace about the worries the British government has over the actions of President Donald Trump following the nerve agent attack on a former spy.
"If the Russians are behind this attack, it is an attack by proxy, if you like, on the United States and the only response that makes any sense from the U.S. is condemnation, the kind of condemnation that we heard from Nikki Haley," Simmons reported.
"It looks as if potentially either the Kremlin thought they could get away with this, that they thought they wouldn't be caught, if you like, or that they didn't care," Simmons explained. "And if they didn't care, if America and the U.K. don't take tough enough action, then the question is, 'what do the Russians do next?' It's a pretty frightening one."
"Do you think the British government now is concerned that perhaps in the American president that they have right now, they have someone who might not care?" Wallace asked.
"The problem is, you know, it's a bit more profound than that," Simmons replied. "The British government is very weak right now."
"They are trying to manage this incredibly difficult process of Brexit," he noted. "They are divided from Europe through that and they are looking at the White House and worrying -- deeply worrying -- about what is happening to their ally at a time when they need their closest ally the most."
"And that really, I think, paints a picture of how dangerous all of this is for the western alliance, if you like," Simmons concluded.
Watch:
