RUSH EXCERPT:
MENENDEZ: "The president gives the back of the hand to our allies. And embraces authoritarians like Putin. And here they have an American president doing the work for them. I guess Putin’s investment in the last presidential election is paying off big time in Brussels."
HAYES: " Just to be clear, the president calling for everyone to pay more and more of their budget, presumably Putin doesn’t want that, right?"
MENENDEZ: "No. He don’t want that, but of course when the president calls for a figure that even the United States is not doing, he is once again creating a wedge with our allies. You know, Germany, particularly that he took on Germany, it has been the bullwork of making sure that sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine and annexing crimea and undermining democracy, including our own. So, undermining, Germany, undermining the alliance does play in Putin’s hand."