NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Dan Sullivan
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. While some Republicans like Senator John McCain have urged President Trump to use the Russia indictments to get tougher with Vladimir Putin or simply cancel tomorrow's summit, the Republican leadership in Congress has been largely silent. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has so far provided no public reaction to the indictments from Friday. And House Speaker Paul Ryan did release this statement, saying, quote, "We've said all along we know Russia meddled in our elections. And we're glad these hackers are being held to account." Well, joining me now is Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska. Probably physically the closest state--
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
We certainly are, Chuck. Absolutely.
CHUCK TODD:
--to the country of Russia. Let me--
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
And, by the way, they're doing a lot in the Arctic, too. Aggressively moving in the Arctic.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me play something for you from a colleague of yours on Thursday. Republican colleague Cory Gardner. Here's what he said about Russia.
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CHUCK TODD:
He said this before the indictments came out. The indictments come out Friday. Do you agree with him?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, look, I think Russia's clearly an adversary. And it's something -- it's a country we need to take aggressive action towards. The one issue you actually mentioned in the previous segment and it doesn't get a lot of press. There is a lot of discussion on how the president seems to downplay issues with Putin. But what doesn't get a lot of discussion is the concrete actions we, the Congress, and the White House have been taking with regard to Russia. There's a number of them. We're rebuilding our military. Which we, you know, defense spending actually declined almost 25% from 2010 to 2016. That rebuilding includes the European reassurance initiative. Billions of dollars for our troops in Poland and the Baltics. Boots on the ground. Second, you know, this administration has given lethal weapons, the Javelin anti-tank system, to Ukraine. President Obama never did that. Congress -- bipartisan members of the Senate Armed Services Committee wanted to do that. We're finally doing that now. That's serious. Putin acknowledged--
CHUCK TODD:
You realize though, senator, everything you're discussing you guys have forced him to do. You have forced the administration on this. He himself, though rhetorically, seems to-- when he rhetorically downplays this concrete action that you're talking about, doesn't it undermine the action?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, look, the Javelin system, for example, wasn't forced on the president at all, right? President Obama didn't want to do that. President Trump and Secretary Mattis did that. That - Putin understands power. And let me just mention one other area. Energy. Chuck, we have this great opportunity unleashing American energy. I was in a meeting with Senator McCain about a year and a half ago with a senior Russian dissident. At the end of the meeting, I asked him, "What more can we do to push back on Putin?" He said, "The number one thing you Americans can do is produce more American energy." We're doing that in Alaska with the opening of ANWR L&G (PH). So we're doing a lot. And it's the White House and the Congress together. These are concrete actions that Putin understands. To your point on the, on the rhetoric, you know, I think that actions speak louder than words, particularly as it relates to Vladimir Putin. And hopefully when the president meets him, they're going to be able to talk - these concrete actions that were taken.
CHUCK TODD:
Yeah. I know you're close to Senator McCain.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
I am.
CHUCK TODD:
He basically says, "If you're not going to stand up for this, cancel this meeting." What do you make of that?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Look, I think we should go into the - I, I think we should still have the meeting. And I don't think even Senator McCain, you know, said that--
(OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
And what should be the agen - what should be the agenda? We know there may not be one. But what should it be in your mind?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
The agenda should be I think, number one, that we should let Vladimir Putin - the president, and his team should let Vladimir Putin know, "If you want a better relationship, if you want, for example, sanctions to be lifted, it's going to be up to you." What do I mean by that? Don't invade your neighbors. And move out of the countries that you've invaded. Don't align yourself with the world's biggest sponsors of state terrorism in terms of Iran. Don't back regimes like Bashar al-Assad. And certainly don't meddle in the elections of democracies like the United States--"
CHUCK TODD:
So what you're saying is you don't--
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
--"and our allies." But absolutely. That should be the condition. Everybody's talking about, "We need a better relationship. Putin wants a better relationship." My view is it's up to the Russians. Because they need to take actions to get that better relationship.
CHUCK TODD:
You're basically saying President Trump better not give in to any of Putin's asks. Putin may ask to get American troops out of Syria. Putin may ask to lessen the sanctions due to Crimea. Putin may ask to lessen some of the sanctions and give back these - these compounds that we took away. So if the president gives in on any of those things, what are you going to do?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
If the president is giving in on lifting sanctions without Putin taking action, I think that would be a mistake. Now, the president has also mentioned other areas. You saw Ambassador Huntsman talk about other areas of possible cooperation. One that the president highlighted in his press conference with Theresa May was on nuclear proliferation. I mean, I think if we can make progress on nuclear proliferation, which I think right now the weapons of mass destruction proliferation threat is very significant. Getting Russian cooperation on that would be important. So, there are things outside of the direct relationship. But if he wants a better relationship, particularly Putin wants the lifting of sanctions, he's got to take actions to make that happen.
CHUCK TODD:
I want to get you to comment on something that somebody who I believe was a colleague of yours when you were at the State Department, Nick Burns.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Yes.
CHUCK TODD:
I think you know him well.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN: I know Nick Burns well...
(OVERTALK)
CHUCK TODD:
He was an undersecretary during the Bush years just like you. And this is what he tweeted this week: "Trump's trip to Europe is the single most chaotic and destructive of an American president. He has put us at odds with the E.U., weakened NATO, disparaged Germany, and directly undermined May," referring to Theresa May. "He is a wrecking ball. American credibility has been diminished." Do you agree with him?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Look, I - I have a lot of respect for Nick Burns. The one thing I would say, and I've said to this administration from the president on down, our most important strategic advantage in the world is that we're an ally-rich nation and our adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, Iran are ally poor. They know that. And they've tried for decades to undermine our alliance.
CHUCK TODD:
Why is the president helping?
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, look, I think the NATO summit actually turned out pretty well. There's always drama that comes into these summits. I helped President Bush prepare for some of his summits. There's always drama. But at the end of the day, I think actually that summit turned out well. You had the president fully re-committing to our focus on NATO. Very importantly we made progress on the 2% GDP spending, which, you know, a couple years ago most countries were actually--
CHUCK TODD:
All right.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
--reverse or declining their defense spending, including us. And then even the president raising this issue of energy in Germany and Russia was important. So I think overall it was a successful summit.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Sullivan, I appreciate you coming on, sharing your views. Sounds like you are taking the president's signature at his word. Not necessarily his rhetoric.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Well, I like actions more than words. And I think on that front--
(OVERTALK)
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
--Russia's listening. And um, but we got a lot of work to do.
CHUCK TODD:
Fair enough.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN:
Thanks, Chuck.
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