‘Democracy Has to Win’: Trump’s Ex-Pentagon Chief Warns Against Former Boss Splitting U.S. Allies In Fight Against Russia

Former Trump Pentagon Chief Mark Esper joined CNN on Tuesday to weigh in on Donald Trump’s contentious interview with Bloomberg News editor in chief John Micklethwait earlier in the day.

Trump told Micklethwait that if he had spoken to Vladimir Putin since leaving office, as was reported by Bob Woodward, he would be smart for doing so. CNN anchor Brianna Keilar asked Esper about Trump’s comment, “What are your concerns about what they may be talking about? Where do you see the line and where do you have concerns about that line?”

“Well, it’s all speculation, of course, but the question would be is to what degree is he trying to advise Vladimir Putin in terms of how to deal with the Biden administration, the United States, or is he promising certain things if he comes back into office one day? Those are, those would be, you know, major issues, major concerns of mine,” Esper replied, adding:

But again, we just don’t know. And it’s worth saying again, it’s not unusual for world leaders to maintain friendships, relationships beyond their terms in office. What’s unusual, again, is this is Vladimir Putin. He’s an adversary. He’s doing things to harm the United States and our allies. And what he’s doing against Ukraine is just terrible. So this is why my concern is particularly piqued here.

“Mr. secretary I have one more question for you, if you have a moment. I know you’re running short on time, but it was a question that was asked that I thought illuminated Trump’s worldview more broadly.
The moderator was asking him about how the US won the Cold War against the USSR and it had to do it with uniting allies. He was asking Trump about his approach in alienating folks that are supposed to be your friends on the world stage through the threat of tariffs, through some of his his rhetoric, and whether he thought that that would ultimately cost the United States in what he views as a current Cold War with China. I wonder what you make of that approach and that statement from Trump,” Boris Sanchez followed up.

“Sure. Look, it’s a great question and it’s a terrific issue. And look, I’m a Reagan Republican. And what Ronald Reagan did was rally the West and he led it. And what Reagan did during the 80s, along with Margaret Thatcher and others, was to basically defeat the Soviet Union through soft power and pushing back here and there. But we did it with allies and partners,” Esper replied, adding:

And in today’s context of the 21st century, where I see China is our greatest strategic advisor and adversary, followed by Russia, Iran, North Korea, we have a great lineup of allies the Europeans, the Japanese, Australians, Filipinos — you go around the world. We have dozens, dozens of treaty allies and even more partners. The other side, the China team, the Russia team, have the four of them, plus Nicaragua and Mali. It’s not a very, it’s not a very good team. So it’s important that we kind of keep the big picture in focus.

That means democracy has to win here in the 21st century. And we’re only going to do that if we are the democracies of the world. Our allies and partners work together. And what that means is making sure that we don’t do things unnecessarily to fracture that alliance, to fracture those partnerships. And that would be my concern. We talk about 100% tariffs across the board or breaking up trade agreements, things like that. Look, it’s fair to look at those things. It’s fair to assess trade agreements, to make sure they’re current with the times that they’re meeting our interests. That’s fine. But to threaten those things and possibly fracture these important alliances and partnerships in this standoff, we’re now in against the autocracies in the world, I think, is what concerns me.

Watch the clip above via CNN.