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NY Times Reporter: Hard to Argue Trump Hasn't Been Tough on Putin After 60 Diplomats Expelled

March 27, 2018

New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger said on Tuesday that it was hard to argue President Donald Trump hasn't been tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin after his recent expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats.

Sanger appeared on CNN to discuss a recent coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States and many European allies following a nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal, a Russian defector and current British citizen who was a spy for the United Kingdom. Host Chris Cuomo asked Sanger if the United States has ever made a more serious diplomatic move.

"When have we ever done more in terms of sanctions or who we got rid of?" Cuomo asked. "I mean, Obama administration got rid of people but nowhere near this many, and it was only focused in the U.S. When have we ever done more than this?"

"In terms of expulsion of diplomats, I’m not sure, Chris, we ever have," Sanger said. "It is getting harder to make the argument that the president has not gotten tough with Putin. This is certainly a tougher move for example than President Obama took when he expelled 30-some odd diplomats after the election issues."

Daily Beast editor-in-chief John Avlon mentioned that Trump's expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats was even three times the number expelled by the U.K., the site of the nerve agent attack.

"This is big, and it deserves credit," Avlon said.

Sanger and Avlon both said they wished Trump would, however, speak out directly against Putin more.