Did Putin Tell Donald Trump to Shove Montenegro PM Duško Markovic at NATO Summit?

If you are a member of the Republican party, one would imagine you’d be a little bit more careful in trying to keep your hands to yourself after yesterday’s Gianforte fiasco. If you haven’t been following the news lately, the GOP candidate for Montana’s House seat is accused of ‘body slamming’ a reporter yesterday after he had asked about the CBO score of the American Health Care Act.

Well, it appears as if President Trump wanted to one-up Gianforte this afternoon as he met with fellow NATO members at the NATO Summit in Brussels. Besides scolding our allies for not paying their ‘fair share’, and refusing to clarify his position on Article 5, which in and of itself is a enough to make Putin and Russia celebrate, Trump decided to shove one such ally and fellow NATO member.

As numerous leaders of fellow NATO nations gathered, Trump is seen in the video below, grabbing the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Duško Markovic from behind and abruptly pushing his way in front of him. Trump then appears to adjust his suit as he continues talking with another NATO ally. The move doesn’t appear to be made in any kind of jokingly manner as the expression on Trump’s face looks about as serious as one gets.

In and of itself, a U.S. President treating an ally in such a disrespectful manner would be enough to get the attention of pretty much everyone. However, it’s the man he shoved which really makes one question his motives.

For those unaware, this was the first NATO Summit for Prime Minister Duško Markovic and the nation of Montenegro. That’s because the country only recently became the 29th member of NATO. Upon its acceptance, one of the biggest opponents to Montenegro joining NATO was Vladimir Putin and Russia. In fact, Russia was so opposed to the new membership that they promised “retaliatory actions”. One such action, the banning of imports from Montenegro’s largest winemaker, has already gone into effect as Russia continues to do everything in its power to limit the influence of NATO as a world organization.

If any other President had done this, and an individual or group were to even considering that such a move was made to please the Russians, that person would likely get the label of ‘insane’ or ‘conspiracy theorist’.  With Trump, however, it certainly seems possible if not likely, that this disrespectful shove of Markovic could have come on the orders of Russia, just like Trump’s seemingly anti-NATO stance. Again, no one knows for sure, and your guess is as good as ours, but it’s definitely something that should be considered.