Max Boot came to this?!

Now the question is whether the administration will do anything at all to respond to Putin’s enforced downsizing of the U.S. mission in Russia. If Trump were so inclined, there is much he could do, from slowing down the issuance of visas to Russians who want to visit the U.S., to freezing the bank accounts of Putin and his oligarch friends (it would be poetic justice to freeze 755 accounts), to adopting a Pentagon proposal to ship anti-tank missiles and other potent weaponry to the Ukrainian armed forces resisting Russian aggression.

Will Trump do any of this? Doubtful. The only anti-Russian measures he has taken are those that have been forced on him by Congress. The administration isn’t hesitating to impose personal sanctions on the dictator of Venezuela, just the dictator of Russia.

Trump’s fondness for Putin is the big mystery of global politics. Perhaps Trump simply admires the Russian strongman, or perhaps the Steele Dossier, compiled by a former British intelligence officer, is accurate and Putin has something on Trump. Whatever the case, Trump’s unwillingness to get tough with Russia saps his credibility, strengthens suspicions of collusion with the Kremlin, worries our Eastern European allies and undermines America’s standing in the world. That is a high price to pay for trying to remain in the good graces of an anti-American dictator.