Tennessee Republican Representative Mark Green was called out after he claimed during a Fox Business interview that America "needs to listen" to Russian President Vladimir Putin more—effectively letting us all know who President Donald Trump actually listens to.
Green’s remarks, in which he suggested deferring to the intelligence assessments of the Kremlin, show how far the GOP, once defined by a hardline skepticism of Moscow, has strayed from its traditional position.
He said:
“Russians don’t seem to be taking President Trump very seriously, it’s a sort of schizophrenic message coming out of them. I wouldn’t take what [Dmitry] Medvedev says very seriously, though. If you read his Twitter feed it’s … clearly absurd and not what you'd expect from a world leader."
“I think we really just need to listen to Trump, Putin, the Kremlin, and our [National Security Council] folks. That’s who we need to be listening to."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Green was harshly criticized for his remarks.
Green's words came after news outlets reported that Trump ordered a sweeping reorganization of the National Security Council that will significantly reduce its size, result in the removal of several political appointees, and reassign many career civil servants to their original departments and agencies.
The NSC serves as a key White House body responsible for advising the president on national security and foreign policy matters, as well as coordinating actions across federal agencies. The move reduces the size of its staff by at least half.
Several officials assigned to the NSC from other federal agencies are being reassigned to their original departments, while others have been placed on administrative leave, effective immediately. Some regional and issue-specific teams will be disbanded entirely, while others will be consolidated into new or existing groups as part of the broader reorganization effort.
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