Is Trump's silence on Putin, Daniels telling?

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's blistering tongue and stinging tweets spare almost no one. But there are two blatant exceptions to his saturating rhetorical fire: Vladimir Putin and Stormy Daniels.

The President never shrinks from slamming his perceived foes from Rosie O'Donnell to the cast of "Hamilton," to slain political enemies like "low energy" Jeb Bush and estranged political guru "sloppy" Steve Bannon.

He's jabbed allied leaders such as Britain's Theresa May and Germany's Angela Merkel, torched whole nations, such as Pakistan and Belgium, and teed off against retail giants including Macy'sand Amazon.

But the ex-KGB man in the Kremlin, who is accused of meddling with US democracy and ordering a nerve agent attack in Britain and the porn star who told 20 million "60 Minutes" viewers she had unprotected sex with Trump each get a mysterious pass from the President's attacks.

US punishes Russia but Trump hedges bets on Putin

Those omissions were especially noticeable on Monday as the Russian President and Daniels were vying for top billing on news shows.

As tempting as it must have been to hit back at Daniels, Trump kept quiet, possibly seeking to avoid being drawn any deeper into a thicket of litigation by three women who have brought sex-related civil cases to which he is linked.

Also Monday, Trump's White House rolled out its toughest action yet on Russia, kicking out 60 diplomats over the attempt by suspected Kremlin agents to assassinate a former Russia spy in the sleepy English city of Salisbury.

But Trump, consistent with his practice of never personally calling out or criticizing Putin, was nowhere to be seen.

The reasons for Trump's reticence were not clear, since he's not talking. But there will be suspicions that he's keeping quiet because both Putin and Daniels may know something about the President's past that could hurt him.

After all, Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti insists he has evidence supporting her claims about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump as she seeks to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement. Trump has denied the affair, the White House says.

And special counsel Robert Mueller's request for documents on Trump Organization business in Russia could suggest he wants to know if there is any activity the President would be keen to cover up and that could help provide a motive for a potential attempt to obstruct justice. Trump, again, has denied any wrongdoing.

Nothing but a 'hoax'

 

 

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When it comes to Daniels, Trump's aides have advised him that lashing out would only fuel to the story. He appears to be taking a similar approach to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who revealed an alleged affair with Trump in a CNN interview last week.

The President believes the Daniels allegations are a 'hoax' designed to damage him politically, Chris Ruddy, a close Trump ally and CEO of Newsmax, told ABC News on Sunday. Trump has also seized on Avenatti's Democratic connections to portray him as an operative with an ax to grind.

In recent conversations Trump has asked friends and outside advisers whether he should publicly defend himself, indicating that he's eager to put the allegations to rest.

But even allies who ordinarily reinforce the President's combative instincts have warned that wading into such a torrid matter would appear unpresidential. That has not stopped Trump from complaining about constant news coverage of Daniels and a lack of allies on television defending him.

There could also be legal implications -- after all, former NBC "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos was able to launch a defamation action even after the statute of limitations had passed on her original harassment suit because Trump branded women who accused him of inappropriate behavior as liars.

At least for now, Trump plans to heed warnings to stay quiet and he is not scheduled to take questions from reporters this week. But in a possible sign of his concern, he invited his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is embroiled in the Stormy Daniels case for dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.

Still, Trump routinely changes his mind quickly, and could easily throw his aides for a loop by tweeting or offhandedly commenting on the issue. 

The White House wouldn't say on Monday whether Trump had viewed the "60 Minutes" interview on CBS in which Daniels described playfully spanking him with a magazine and reluctantly having sex. But there were indications Trump spent Sunday evening and Monday morning reacting to the allegations.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com