Russia has just issued a sweeping ban against high-profile Americans – with the exception
of one former president.
In the wake of the decision to invade Ukraine, Russia and its citizens have been clobbered
by international sanctions aimed at crippling the nation's economy.
Some of the sanctions include the European Union's decision to start phasing out crude
oil from Russia, barring Russia from using international banking systems, and even blocking
state-owned media outlets from getting access to audiences in Europe.
Not to be outdone, Russia announced its own set of sanctions in the form of permanently
banning over 900 United States citizens from entering the Russian Federation.
Headlining the list is current President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former
First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg,
and even actor Morgan Freeman, according to CNBC.
However, a name that was missing from the laundry list of notable politicians, businesspeople,
and other high-profile citizens was former President of the United States, Donald J.
Trump.
This was the latest in a series of events that have led to speculation that Putin and
Trump have a relatively warm relationship toward each other, an accusation that plagued
Trump's entire presidency.
One of the surprising things about Donald Trump not appearing on the list of banned
U.S. citizens is that the list featured politicians from across the political spectrum.
Members of Congress representing both major United States political parties are on the
list as are members of President Biden's administration..
With so many powerful names receiving bans, it was a fair question to wonder why Trump
— a former president — wouldn't be included on the list, especially when political affiliation
didn't seem to be much of a factor.
According to Yahoo News, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said the
sanctions were, quote, "aimed at forcing the ruling American regime, which is trying to
impose a neo-colonial 'rules-based world order' on the rest of the world, to change its behavior,
recognizing new geopolitical realities."
It's worth noting that no former U.S. president appeared on the list.
While former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama
are nowhere to be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation's
list, it was Trump's omission that raised eyebrows.
Even before Trump took office in January 2017, there were rumors of his close ties to Vladimir
Putin.
It was alleged that Trump had colluded with Russian officials to interfere with the 2016
presidential election.
While The Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledges that Russia did interfere with
the election, a nearly two-year-long investigation conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller
found that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, though the
door was left open for possible obstruction.
Trump was known to speak highly of Putin throughout his presidency, and according to Politico,
the administration's connections to Russia came in the forms of multiple meetings with
officials close to Putin.
Even members of Trump's own family had met with figures close to Russia's president.
Trump not appearing on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation's sanction
list would seem to indicate that Putin is friendly toward the 45th President of the
United States.
While recent rumors have suggested that Putin was at times frustrated by Trump's apparent
lack of knowledge on certain issues, Trump has been one of the few international political
figures who haven't given a strong condemnation of Russia's actions in Ukraine.
According to Insider, Fiona Hill – a former Trump National Security Council advisor on
Russia — said that Trump was someone who Putin had to, quote, "explain everything to
all the time," especially on geopolitical matters.
Hill further claims that this was why Putin waited until the Biden administration was
in power to invade Ukraine, allegedly feeling that Biden would be better to negotiate with.
Even after the invasion of Ukraine, Trump has been hesitant to speak out against Putin.
In a 2022 interview with Sean Hannity, Trump continued to refrain from calling the Russian
president "evil" even when Hannity teed up the opportunity for him to do so.
Trump said,
"I knew Putin very well.
I will tell you, we talked about it, we talked about it a lot, he did want Ukraine, but I
said, 'You're not going into Ukraine.'"
On his watch, Trump said,
"[Putin] would never, ever have gone into Ukraine."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about world events and history are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.