'Trying' to 'butter up', yeah. Oh I'm sure there's manipulation attempts both ways, I'd say that there's never a case where it isn't present.
'us security at risk..and American lives at risk'?
Really? When do you think this occured? What actions do you think did this?
The Russians have been meddling in, and causing chaos in, US elections since before the Cold War started. Nothing new here. What is new though is their adoption of the IT toolset in doing so.
Not surprising that Trump doesn't trust the IC. They were, after all, in on the spying on the campaign, and they are rife with politically interested bureaucrats. WHere do you think all those damaging leaks designed to sabotage that administration came from? Aren't federal government bureaucrats sworn to work for, and at the direction of, the legitimately and legally elected president of the administration? So the sabotage leaks are in violation of that, wouldn't they be?
And yet, you expect and demand that he would still trust them? Seems to me they've done everything to destroy any possible trust in them.
Yeah, right.
Trump has not been ‘soft’ on Russia. He’s been tougher than Obama.
Opinions on that would seem to differ.