Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a "great investment" in President Donald Trump and that his investment was "paying off” with Trump’s comments against NATO at a summit in Brussels.
"It’s so upsetting to see that Putin, whose number one goal is to divide the West, and particularly in NATO, has an American president doing his work for him in a way that all of his cyber attacks and Twitter disinformation and trolls have been unable to achieve. Putin made a great investment in the 2016 presidential elections and it’s paying off for him in Brussels today,” Menendez said Wednesday on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe."
At the NATO summit on Wednesday, Trump accused fellow NATO ally Germany of being beholden to Russia because it buys energy from Moscow, CNN reported.
"Germany is totally controlled by Russia," Trump said.
Later Wednesday, Trump said that Germany and the U.S. have a "tremendous relationship."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.