Trump Reportedly Blasted White House Staff Over Missed Putin Call

Not long after winning the White House, President Donald Trump reportedly lashed out at his staff for not interrupting a meeting with a foreign leader so he could take a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A new book from national security reporter Peter Bergen, “Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos,” shines a light on, among other things, Trump’s struggles with the military as well as how his handling of foreign policy is seen within his administration. One passage, in particular, is rather revealing about the president’s highly scrutinized relationship with his Russian counterpart.

British Prime Minister Theresa May had been visiting Trump on Jan. 27, 2017, at the White House, his first official visit from a foreign head of state. At the meeting, May asked whether Trump had been contacted by Putin yet; Trump said he hadn’t.

At this point, then-national security advisor Michael Flynn corrected Trump and said that he’s “arranging that call now. President Putin called several days ago, but we haven't been able to get it on your calendar yet.” According to Bergen’s book, Trump then became visibly upset and began to rake Flynn over the coals.

“Are you kidding me? Vladimir Putin tried to call me, and you didn't put him through,” Trump said, adding that Putin is “the only man on earth who can destroy us.”

The president later revisited his staff’s decision to not immediately alert him about Putin’s phone calls, reportedly berating them: “What kind of bull---- is this? How is it possible that Putin calls me and you don't put the call through? I don't know what you guys are doing.”

Trump’s relationship with Putin has come into question since the beginning of his administration. Critics point out that in three years, Trump has crafted foreign policy which tends to favor Russian interests. Trump has also been less than transparent about his conversations with Putin, several of which have occurred behind closed doors and off the record.

More recently, Putin publicly echoed Trump’s assertion that his impeachment is baseless and purely a politically-motivated scheme by the Democrats. Over the weekend, Trump tweeted that he had spoken with Putin who had called to offer thanks for the role played by the United States in stopping a recent terrorist plot in St. Petersburg.