The Helsinki Conference was a major political move on the part of 45th president Donald Trump, as within a month and four days (June 12, 2018 and July 16, 2018), a U.S. president met with two of the most infamous leaders in the world. Both have been accused of human rights violations and countless conspiracies. But instead of dutifully representing our country to a rival of ours for decades, our president committed what many stated to be the most shameful and stunning moment of his presidency.

Since the Cold War and the Red Scare, U.S.-Russian relations have been less intense, though still tense. With Russia’s clear anti-Western policies still in place, and the fact that we still refer to communism, and President Putin, in a negative light, it is clear that the public is not completely on board with being best buddies.

The primary reason Russia has been in the news cycle since 2016, however, is the fact that they meddled in the 2016 presidential election. I say fact because this was something that was proven by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee and was unanimous among members of the intelligence community. Many hoped that in the Helsinki summit on July 16, the President would address these facts, and stand up for the countries democratic institutions and systems that have been in place for hundreds of years.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

In a response to a question from American press about Russian interference, our President stated that, “I hold both countries responsible. I think the United States has been foolish. We’ve all been foolish. We’re all to blame.” He goes on to deride Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, in addition to the FBI and the entire United States Intelligence Community.

But of course, the Russian President was “extremely strong and powerful in his denials”, and therefore he is more trustworthy than the American intelligence system.

The apparent trust that a United States President is placing in a Russian President over his own people is a complete 180 from the viewpoints of Presidents during the Red Scare. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, Presidents were wary, and many tried to cover up the fact that hundreds of Soviet spies invaded very high positions in our nation’s government before being discovered. Instead, President Trump is encouraging us to trust Russia, in a period of time where they are once again invading our institutions.

The rhetorical implications and comparisons that can be drawn when comparing previous presidents to our current one is striking, and shows that maybe the Red Scare has not had as much of an effect on our society today as previously thought.