Questioned by journalists at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa remarked that he has said “all there is to say” regarding his statement that Donald Trump has functioned as a “Soviet or Russian asset,” explaining it was made “with utmost care, demonstrating there was nothing of friendship, economic, social, political, or ideological” in the statement.
“It was done in the most elegant way possible. It was merely an observation: look, this happens, it happens. It happens because, as a result of the pursued strategies, these choices yield this outcome. This outcome has consequences, and the consequence, as everyone understood, is that we have been waiting for eight months for a ceasefire, and for eight months we have been expecting a much faster advance towards peace. Anyway, these are strategies pursued by those who have the legitimacy to do so,” he concluded.
When asked about the impact of his remarks, which prompted the Government to remind that foreign policy is its domain, and if he had anything to add to the words delivered at the PSD Summer University, the head of state replied, “Nothing, nothing, nothing. What I said is said.”
“It wasn’t the first time I said this. Over the last seven months, I mentioned it on several occasions. One of them, in the presence of President Macron, during a speech at the dinner I hosted for him, and he agreed with my viewpoint,” he noted.
“But what’s said is said,” reiterated the President of the Republic.
Regarding his relationship with the PSD/CDS-PP executive, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa noted, “It is the Government that directs foreign policy” and maintained that, “therefore, the matter at hand is for the President of the Republic and the Government to align their positions, whenever possible.”
“And it has been possible to align. In this case, the position was simple, it was indeed to defend that the stronger the cohesion of the alliance concerning Ukraine, the better for Ukraine. The weaker it is, the worse for Ukraine. And that’s the Government’s position, it’s the President’s position,” he maintained.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added that “there have been historical instances where Presidents took positions against Governments” in foreign policy matters, “but not here, fortunately.”
When the media inquired whether he feared a diplomatic conflict, the President of the Republic emphasized the longstanding relations between the two countries, which he described as “very strong and very old,” noting that Portugal was “the first neutral State to recognize the independence” of the United States of America.
According to the head of state, there have occasionally been “significant divergences regarding aspects of American policy” by Portugal, “but in general, there is a very good relationship with the United States of America.”
“Governments change. More right-leaning, more left-leaning, presidents change, administrations change, in one country as in the other, and policies change. When policies change, one might prefer one policy over another, but that doesn’t mean there’s a loss of fondness between countries,” he remarked.
A week ago, speaking with young people at the PSD Summer University in Castelo de Vide, in the district of Portalegre, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been functioning objectively as “a Soviet or Russian asset,” favoring the Russian Federation in the war against Ukraine.
“I am not claiming there is an alliance based on friendship or economic, ideological, doctrinal complicity. No, no. I am saying that, objectively, the new American leadership has strategically favored the Russian Federation,” he added.
