But there is topic on which the counter-puncher-in-chief is conspicuously gun-shy, and has been for a long time: Russia.

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This weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would order 755 personnel out of U.S. missions in Russia in response to new U.S. sanctions against his country for its interference in the 2016 election. According to The Post's Andrew Roth, it's “the single largest forced reduction in embassy staff, comparable only to the closing of the American diplomatic presence in the months following the Communist revolution in 1917.”

Trump's response to this has been silence. He has not tweeted about it since the news broke, and he's instead left the messaging to Vice President Pence, who is touring Eastern European countries who are also anxious about Russian interference. “The president has made it very clear that Russia’s destabilizing activities, its support for rogue regimes, its activities in Ukraine are unacceptable,” Pence said, adding: “As we make our intentions clear, we expect Russian behavior to change.”

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Trump, to his credit, has indeed delivered a message about Russia's actions with regards to Ukraine and others, saying earlier this month that it must “cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere” and end its support for “hostile” governments in Syria and Iran. Pence also pointed out that Trump has said he will sign Congress's new Russia sanctions bill, but it's not really even a choice for Trump: Congress has way more than enough votes to override his veto.

That's about the full extent of his tough talk for Putin; he's never really applied any pressure when it comes to Russia's interference. And now that Putin is taking bona fide, retaliatory measures for U.S. sanctions, Trump would generally be expected to hit back. He hasn't. Russia has apparently given up on an alliance with the United States, but Trump hasn't seen fit to send a message about why that's a bad idea.

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That's a marked contrast to how Trump has treated other countries' leaders. To wit:

The common thread running through many of these is an implied threat — doing something if other countries don't bow to Trump's will. And Trump will often hit back hardest when he thinks someone isn't giving the U.S. the respect it deserves.