![\"\"](\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Trump-marine-one-e1521909494264.jpg\")
<\/a>U.S. President Donald Trump walks to Air Force One as he departs for Palm Beach, Florida, from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S., March 23, 2018. REUTERS\/Joshua Roberts<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
Will Racke
\nThe Daily Caller<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump is likely to expel dozens of Russian diplomats in retaliation for the Kremlin\u2019s alleged involvement in a nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent in Britain, according to a media report published Saturday.<\/p>\n
Trump agreed to the expulsions after hearing recommendations from advisers, who developed possible responses to the attack in National Security Council meetings on Wednesday and Friday, reported Bloomberg<\/a>, citing two people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n The measures are expected to be announced Monday, though officials cautioned that Trump\u2019s decision may not be final.<\/p>\n If the Trump administration boots Russian diplomats, it would mark the second punitive action against Moscow in as many weeks. The White House sanctioned 19 Russian nationals on March 15 for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n That same day,\u00a0the White House declared in a statement that it was \u201chighly likely\u201d that Moscow was responsible for the attack on Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer living in Britain, and his daughter Yulia. Administration officials also suggested the sanctions for election meddling would not be the only response to alleged Kremlin activity against Western targets.<\/p>\n White House officials have reportedly been mulling a response to the Skripal incident that would mirror the one taken by British Prime Minister Theresa May, who ordered<\/a> 23 undeclared Russian spies masquerading as diplomats to leave the U.K. Trump is prepared to take similar action but wants to be sure European allies will follow suit before doing so, according to the Bloomberg report.<\/p>\n Despite having confronted Moscow with a wide range of economic and military responses<\/a>, Trump remains under fire from critics who say he is too conciliatory to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The latest round of outrage flared up Wednesday, when Trump congratulated Putin on his recent win in the Russian presidential election before reading briefing notes reminding him not to do so.<\/p>\n Trump immediately dismissed the flurry of criticism, arguing that is important to have a working relationship with the Russian leader even as the diplomatic spat between Washington and Moscow worsens.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are wrong!\u201d Trump wrote<\/a> on Twitter Wednesday. \u201cGetting along with Russia (and others) is a good thing, not a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s much-scrutinized outreach to Putin stands in contrast to his administration\u2019s increasingly hawkish approach to Russia policy. Notably, Russia hawks now occupy many of the top seats on Trump\u2019s foreign policy team, with Mike Pompeo taking over at the State Department, John Bolton set to become a national security adviser, and Nikki Haley representing Washington in the United Nations.<\/p>\n State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert spoke on Friday night about Russia in much tougher terms than Trump. \u201cThe United States is considering a range of options to respond to Russia\u2019s outrageous actions in the U.K., both to demonstrate our solidarity with our ally and to hold Russia accountable for its clear breach of international norms and agreements,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Moscow has denied any involvement in Skripal\u2019s poisoning. The Kremlin announced<\/a>\u00a0last week it would respond in kind to Britain\u2019s expulsion of Russian personnel by declaring 23 British diplomats \u201cpersona non grata\u201d and closing the British consulate in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n