Over the last few days, if you have not noticed, the two most important US cabinet members who have authority for American foreign and strategic policy released or made statements that previously would have been unthinkable and caused massive outrage. In this case, however, the statements caused only tiny ripples of disquiet.
This is important—as now the US government is spreading the Russian narrative, and hardly a word of protest is said. And certainly, there is never a retraction or walking back of things that would have been seen as extraordinary only a few months ago.
Yesterday the US State Department released an official statement congratulating Russia and Russians on their national day. It was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and couched as a statement by Rubio himself. It started with this quote.
The United States remains committed to supporting the Russian people as they continue to build on their aspirations for a brighter future.
Actually, the Russian people through their government are making claims to seize Ukrainian territory and kill Ukrainians, so needless to say people in the State Department, including Rubio himself, had to know that this was being deliberately provocative and would be widely noticed at this extraordinary time.
At the same time, in a series of Congressional testimonies over the last few days, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made a few notable statements. When it came to sanctions against Russia, Hegseth admitted that the US was, for all of Trump’s threats, not going to ramp up sanctions on Russia and that he (Hegseth) was fine with that. He claimed that the US did not have to use “every tool” at its disposal to make the Russians agree to peace.
This was only the start of a remarkable series of claims that the Secretary of Defense would make to different Congressional committees. Hegseth, for instance, refused to call Ukraine the victim in the war and refused to say that he wants Ukraine to “win” the war.
He even prevaricated on the question of whether the US would respond to a NATO article 5 request if Russia invaded a NATO country.
All of this has happened in the last few days—which btw saw the expiry of Trump’s two-week deadline during which he was to decide whether to bring in harsher sanctions on Russia. That deadline passed without the slightest comment from Trump or the Press—though the next time Trump makes one of his fake threats, we will undoubtedly hear about how he really, really, really might bring in harsh sanctions that time.
Now why are the Rubio and Hegseth statements worthy of note? They are actually evidence of the same phenomenon—Trump cabinet members are now speaking the Russian narrative instinctively, regularly and without the slightest hesitation. Russian reflexive control has so taken over US government thinking that the US national security state instantly acts in such a way to reinforce the Russian position.
I’m sure Trump did not have to give the State Department orders to congratulate Russia on its national day, nor did Trump tell Hegseth specifically to downplay any new sanctions on Russia or to the try and avoid the question of not honoring the US commitment to NATO—however both the heads of the State and Defense Departments are now operating with these assumptions inbuilt into their positions.
Phillips P. OBrien.