Dan Drezner steps back and takes a different view. Trump's actions seem to flirt with treason, but probably don't rise to that level, since we are not actively engaged in hostilities. Except...are we? Russia is certainly no friend of ours, and they are credibly charged with leading cyberattacks on our country - not just the electoral process.
Trump's bullshit denials based on double negatives or what the meaning of "no" is have only done what always happens. Trump does something unbelievable from an American president. Normal people force him to walk back from it, he then betrays his true feelings in subsequent appearances and tweets. This fixation on Montenegro is a great example. Montenegro sent troops to Afghanistan after 9/11. Trump thinks we shouldn't offer protection to them, because of his antipathy to NATO (an organization that has provided unprecented peace in Europe).
Guess who tried to overthrow the government of Montenegro recently?
If Trump is laying the groundwork to betray our NATO allies...Is that treason? The Framers of the Constitution certainly did not anticipate something like NATO, so what does that clarify for us? Nothing.
As Drezner concludes:
Based on the actions of the Trump administration this week, reasonable people can disagree over whether treason is being committed. Let me repeat that: Reasonable people can disagree over whether treason is being committed by this White House.
I do not want to be writing those words. Much as I may have disagreed with previous administrations in my lifetime, I never doubted that the people in those administrations were trying to advance the national interest the best way they thought possible. After this past week, can that case be made with Trump and his national security team?
How is he wrong?
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