Why, yes. It’s time to give Trump some credit on Russia

It’s time we give Donald Trump some credit on Russia.

Yes, we are 15 months in to his presidency. And yes, his record is still overshadowed by his obsequiousness to Vladimir Putin. But after Syria’s chemical weapons attack on civilians, Trump blamed the Russian leader by name (as well as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) for the “mindless” attack on many, including “women and children,” and he threatened a “big price.”

Coming on the heels of new U.S. sanctions on Russian oligarchs, officials, and state-owned businesses, this is a significant change. And it strikes me that there are two things worth noting here.

First, although it’s impossible to know what might ultimately come out of the Mueller probe, Trump’s recent words and deeds could serve to quiet speculation about kompromat. As Commentary Magazine’s John Podhoretz (no Trump booster) observed, “If the Russians have blackmail material on Trump that could destroy him, they should probably let it out pretty soon before his sanctions turn on everybody in Putin’s orbit.”