"Trump tried to end the year on a positive note, however, despite questions about the future of U.S.-Russia relations because of escalating tensions between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Trump’s promise to crack down on China’s trade practices, which he says unfairly target American workers."
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Sometimes lies and spin just get to be too much, too tangled and weird for the writer's skills to handle.  When that happens you get passages of complete incoherence like the one quoted above.