Australian journalist: 'It’s clear that Trump is an agent of Putin'

Veteran Australian journalist Peter Hartcher writes in the Sydney Morning Herald that American allies need to start assuming the worst about President Donald Trump.

Hartcher comes right out at the start of his column that "it's clear that Trump is an agent" of Russian president Vladimir Putin and he says that US allies around the world need to start taking the threat seriously.

As evidence for his claim, he points to Trump's decision to publicly humiliate Ukrainian Presidet Volodymyr Zelensky and compares it to a "struggle session" that used to be popular in Maoist China.

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He then wastes no time dissecting the motives for this public dressing down of a supposed ally.

"The evidence now is incontrovertible: We should accept that Trump acts as an agent of Putin," he writes. "The struggle session in the Oval Office was one piece of evidence, but only one. Trump wants to end the war. Fine. So does everyone. But consider Trump’s template for a peace deal. Before any discussion with Zelensky, Trump ruled that: first, Ukraine must accept permanent Russian occupation of territory it has seized illegally; second, Ukraine must never be allowed to join NATO. These are long-standing Putin demands. Thanks for delivering, Donald.

Read the full column here.