Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was "serious" and warrants a stronger response from President Donald Trump, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy told Newsmax TV.
During an appearance on Monday's "Newsmax Now," Ruddy was asked about Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit last week. Trump appeared to make light of the intelligence community's finding that Russia meddled in the election.
"I think the Russian interference was serious, I think the president should be more critical of it," Ruddy said. "I don't think it was determinative in the election. The president won in a handful of states that he campaigned in and Hillary Clinton didn't.
"So I think it was an off-the-cuff remark that he was responding to all the media madness that they've said for two years that he colluded with Russia, and he didn't."
Joining Ruddy on the show was Christian Whiton, who worked as a senior adviser at the State Department under Presidents George W. Bush and Trump. Whiton indicated that although Russia's actions warranted a response, the U.S. should think strategically and not get itself into another conflict with its Cold War foe.
"We have to think long and hard if we want to go into a conflict with two of the world's great powers at once. We have no choice with China, they're coming after us," he said. "And we ought to look for ways to frankly drive Moscow and Beijing apart as opposed to what we're doing now, which is pushing them together.
"So, starting a dialogue with Putin I think is fundamentally important."
In regards to Saudi Arabia, which is accused of killing dissident journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey last fall, Ruddy said Trump's approach on the issue — which some have said is too middle of the road — is by design because of America's long relationship with the Kingdom.
"I think that the Kashoggi killing was reprehensible, everybody agrees on that," Ruddy said.
"But I think the president's saying, look, the Saudis have been the key ally for the United States, outside of Israel, in the Middle East since World War II, when Franklin Roosevelt first developed a close relationship there. They've sided with us on every strategic issue. … So I think the president's trying to put this in perspective of the larger picture."
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