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There is total war within Trump administration over Russia: Analyst

Thursday, 03 August 2017 1:02 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 03 August 2017 6:53 PM ]

The idea of US imposing unilateral sanctions against China is absolute garbage and it's not going to happen, says an analyst.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is engaged in “total war” as senior White House officials struggle to develop a common policy towards Russia, says a political analyst in Washington.

“You know there is a total war within the administration,” said Mike Billington, an editor with the Executive Intelligence Review.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has “completely refuted all of the garbage coming out of the press about Trump is now mobilizing against Russia, is mobilizing against China, and Tillerson just completely contradicted it,” Billington told Press TV on Wednesday.

“And on China, he said this is not about trade, but he said we do not blame China for the North Korea crisis, and we want to talk to North Korea and they have to understand that we are not a threat, we are not going to invade, and we are not going to force unification,” he added.

“This is a total opposite of what [US Vice President Mike] Pence is saying is Europe where is he ranting about the Russia aggression and the threat from Russia; the specter; it’s almost like the 1950s specter of Communism,” Billington said.

On Wednesday, Trump reluctantly signed into law a bill by Congress that imposes new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The president had privately opposed the measures and his aides had lobbied against them. Congress passed the new sanctions package last week.

Tillerson expressed disappointment after Congress passed the anti-Russia sanctions, particularly because they will hinder efforts to improve ties between the two countries.

"The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the president nor I were very happy about that," Tillerson told reporters Tuesday in the State Department briefing room.

Tillerson's remarks were in contrast with those of Pence, who said the bill showed Trump and Congress speaking “with a unified voice.”

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