Trump Picks Putin Critic for Top Role

The White House has chosen Fiona Hill, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and a fierce critic of Russian President Vladmir Putin, to be its senior director for Europe and Asia. The choice of Hill for the role is likely an attempt on the part of the White House to push back against allegations that President Donald Trump is too cozy with Putin and Russia, and comes amid reports of top Trump campaign officials’ contacts with senior Kremlin officials. In her writings, Hill has warned of Putin’s desire to “weaken” the U.S. presidency, and in 2013 she said his experience as a KGB agent would lead him toward authoritarian tendencies.