On Sunday, President Trump logged onto to Twitter to tell the world that he used part of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany to discuss the possibility of forming a joint U.S.-Russia “cyber security unit.” Presumably, the “unit” would involve intelligence-sharing between the CIA, NSA and other American intelligence services and the GRU and FSB, the intelligence arms of the Kremlin.
Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
After the announcement was made, a slew of administration officials made their rounds on the Sunday morning talk show circuit to laud the president’s efforts.
The cybersecurity partnership is a “very significant accomplishment” for the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told ABC News.
Sec. Mnuchin: Proposed US-Russia cybersecurity partnership a “very significant accomplishment” for Pres. Trump. https://t.co/bmgSZaFZ5x pic.twitter.com/oAvC18mdIl
— ABC News (@ABC) July 9, 2017
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley echoed Mnuchin’s endorsement of a joint U.S.-Russian “cybersecurity unit,” telling CNN Sunday that just because the Trump administration is choosing to work with the Russians that doesn’t necessarily mean the United States trusts Russia. Haley went one step further, in fact, asserting that America “won’t ever trust Russia” given its undeniable history of election meddling and generally hostile posture against the United States.
Despite the administration’s best attempts to defend Trump’s decision to work with Putin on cybersecurity, the backlash to the seemingly naïve proposal was swift and brutal. Criticism came from both sides of the aisle as lawmakers and former defense officials scoffed at the idea of teaming up with Moscow following the Kremlin’s coordinated cyber attacks against U.S. persons and institutions.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that the move is “akin to partnering with Assad on a “Chemical Weapons Unit.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) stated that a cybersecurity partnership with Russia “would be dangerously naïve” for the United States.
Invoking his past experience as Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter explained Russia’s proposal to team up with America on cybersecurity is “like the guy who robbed your house proposing a working group on burglary.”
After enduring a couple hours of intense backlash, Trump ultimately reversed his position, suggesting that his talk with Putin about a cybersecurity partnership was actually meaningless because of its improbability, a caveat that the president failed to mention when he first hailed the apparent triumph in his initial tweet.
The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t-but a ceasefire can,& did!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
Here’s a concise visual timeline of Trump’s “evolution” on this particular issue, courtesy of Bloomberg News Sahil Kapur:
1. Trump touts cybersecurity alliance with Putin.
2. Mnuchin hails it as “very significant accomplishment.”
3. Trump says it won’t happen. pic.twitter.com/ips3MdTlSx
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 10, 2017