The difference is that the hacking of Democratic email during last year’s election, for which intelligence agencies blamed Russia, made Mr. Trump’s embrace of Mr. Putin politically problematic. director, wrote last fall that Mr. Trump seemed to be an “unwitting agent of influence” for Moscow. On Tuesday, Mr. Putin compared Mr. Trump’s action in Syria to President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. But he noted that Mr. Trump has left it to Mr. Tillerson and others rather than speaking out himself. European leaders will be listening to what Mr. Trump has to say, given that during the campaign he criticized NATO even as he praised Mr. Putin.

Source: New York Times April 12, 2017 01:06 UTC