The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021

by Peter Baker

All of it fed theories that Trump and his campaign had been acting in collusion with the Russians. American intelligence agencies had firmly established that Putin not only authorized a covert operation to disrupt American elections but specifically wanted to tilt the outcome in favor of Trump. When a Trump foreign policy adviser named George Papadopoulos confided to an Australian diplomat over drinks in London in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of Democratic emails that would embarrass Hillary Clinton, Australian officials tipped American intelligence, leading the FBI to open an investigation. Unlike the email probe in which Clinton was eventually cleared, the inquiry into Trump’s campaign remained little publicized until after the election. The pre-inaugural phone calls with the Russian ambassador that got Mike Flynn fired only fueled suspicions. And when Trump took office, he prepared to lift some sanctions on Russia until Republican senators led by Mitch McConnell threatened to overrule him with legislation.