Trump has declared that “everything is under control” when all experts have said that the damage may take months or years to calculate.
US President Donald Trump’s statement on Saturday contradicting all his cyber and law enforcement agencies, as well as his loyal Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, about Russia’s massive cyberattack on the US, has probably crossed into dangerous territory. That danger is that the Trump is refusing to name the country that has escalated cyber war against America to unprecedented proportions. Trump has declared that “everything is under control” when all experts have said that the damage may take months or years to calculate. How can the US fight back when its leader is actively trying to pull its punches against its current lead cyber adversary? Hours after Pompeo on Saturday confirmed leaks by all of Trump’s cyber and law enforcement officials that Moscow was the culprit and that the hack had infiltrated even American nuclear agencies, Trump brushed it all off. He wrote on Twitter: “The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control.” “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!),” he continued. Trump is probably correct that these days, Democrats are happier to blame Russia for national security problems, and Republicans are happier to blame China. This dynamic, if it politicizes national security, may turn out to be a tragedy for both parties since the truth is that both countries have taken major cyber shots at the US in different ways.
