President Trump and his allies have a ready-made defense for whenever he viciously attacks his opponents: He's a counterpuncher. “You understand that; I'm responding,” Trump told Megyn Kelly in May 2016. During a visit in Tallinn, Estonia, July 30, Vice President Pence said President Trump intends to sign a bill that increases sanctions against Russia "very soon." And now that Putin is taking bona fide, retaliatory measures for U.S. sanctions, Trump would generally be expected to hit back. And Trump will often hit back hardest when he thinks someone isn't giving the U.S. the respect it deserves.

Source: Washington Post July 31, 2017 16:07 UTC