Pulitzer Prize-winning historian explains Putin's miscalculation of NATO: 'He was listening to Trump'

A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian blamed Vladimir Putin's so-far disastrous invasion of Ukraine on Donald Trump.

The Russian president has long sought to weaken NATO, but his unilateral invasion of his democratic neighbor has rallied the organization that had been battered by the twice-impeached former U.S. president -- and historian Anne Applebaum said Trump's attacks had given Putin a false sense of confidence.

"Yes, I think Putin was listening to Trump's denunciations of NATO and he imagined NATO was permanently divided and wouldn't be able to unite again," Applebaum told CNN. "I think he didn't count on what the sight of tanks rolling across a European country would do to people in Germany, people in Italy, people in France, people in Europe, and of course people in the United States."

READ: Parents of a trans child who reached out to Ken Paxton over dinner are now under investigation for child abuse

"It reminds everybody of a part of the European past that we hoped would never come back and NATO was encouraged to prevent," she added. "You have seen a really remarkable shift all across Europe as Europeans do now what should have been done some months ago, which is to reinforce and rearm Ukraine."

03 09 2022 11 20 35www.youtube.com