As President Donald Trump sits down with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a high-stakes summit in Alaska, KT McFarland, former Trump deputy national security adviser, told Newsmax that Friday's meeting is "all about option C."
"President Trump is unlike any president I've worked for, and I've been in the White House Situation Room with four presidents going back to [Richard] Nixon," McFarland said on "Wake Up America." "The difference is President Trump gets an idea of what he wants to achieve, in this case, peace in Ukraine, he's not quite sure how he's going to get there, and so he's going to try option A and option B and option C. Option A, he was going to get both the Russians and the Ukrainians to the negotiating table, basically with his charm and personality – didn't work. So, option B, use economic and military pressure. It worked with Ukraine, they're at the table. It did not work with Vladimir Putin."
"So, today is all about option C," she said. "Now, if it doesn't work what happens? There'll be an option D, and what's option D? Serious consequences to the Russian economy. There are a lot of things President Trump can do to really bring the Russian economy to a crippling halt. He doesn't want to do that because what he really is looking for is way past Ukraine and he wants a relationship with Russia that might pull Russia away from the Chinese orbit."
Asked to elaborate on the nature of the serious economic consequences Russia could face if option C fails, McFarland said that "we're talking about sanctions and really hitting the Russian economy."
"Now, we don't do any real trading with Russia, so, if we don't sanction them, it doesn't really matter," she said. "But a lot of other countries do. They buy Russian oil, and they buy Russian natural gas, so, we could impose secondary sanctions on those countries. Countries are not supposed to buy Russian stuff, but they do, they violate the sanctions. Whether it's India or China or Turkey, they all violate those sanctions and they buy Russian oil and gas. In fact, some European countries still violate the sanctions and buy Russian natural gas."
McFarland added that the United States' European allies are "all clutching their pearls" over Trump's Friday meeting with Putin.
"They're all saying, oh, you know, you can't give up any of Ukraine. You can't do this. You can't do that," she said. "Well, all right, but who's the enforcer here? I mean, the Ukrainians, they're fighting, they're getting American weapons. A lot of it is now paid for by the Europeans, but what do the Europeans want? They want World War III? Do they really want the United States and NATO to fight Russia? I don't think so. So, let's look at the art of the possible. Sometimes you have to negotiate with guys you don't like, because you need to have the prospect of peace going forward, and I think that's what Donald Trump's doing."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.