Thread by @maddow

"There are few things Putin desires more than the weakening of NATO, the military alliance among the US, Europe and Canada that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the US...

"A move to withdraw from the alliance, in place since 1949, 'would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to U.S. interests,' said Michèle A. Flournoy, an undersecretary of defense under President Barack Obama..."

“'It would destroy 70-plus years of painstaking work across multiple administrations... to create perhaps the most powerful and advantageous alliance in history,' Ms. Flournoy said. 'And it would be the wildest success that Vladimir Putin could dream of...'

Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said 'Even discussing the idea of leaving NATO — let alone actually doing so — would be the gift of the century for Putin...'

"US national security officials believe Russia has focused on undermining solidarity between the US and Europe... Its goal [is] to upend NATO... With a weakened NATO, Putin would have more freedom to behave as he wishes, setting up Russia as a counterweight to Europe & the US...

"An American withdrawal would accomplish all that Putin has been trying to put into motion, officials said — essentially, doing the Russian leader’s hardest and most critical work for him...

"The president's desire to withdraw from NATO is raising new worries among national security officials amid growing concern about Trump’s efforts to keep his meetings with Mr. Putin secret from even his own aides..."

nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/…