I’d be remiss — which in this case means wholly derelict in my capacity as a documentarian of consequential geopolitical developments — not to mention Donald Trump’s mendacious defaming of Volodymyr Zelensky.
Not a lot surprises me coming from Trump, particularly not when the subject’s slander. Trump harbors an amusingly one-sided conception of defamation. It goes as follows. Anything you say about him short of unreserved adulation probably constitutes libel when he’s not president, and treason when he is. Note that because unconditional flattery is the only acceptable language for opining on Trump, the truth’s persona non grata. By contrast, Trump’s free to traffic in barefaced lies while inveighing against friends and foes alike, and with absolute impunity, regardless of the consequences for his targets, consequences for which he’s never held to account.
That’s a pretty sweet deal. Kinda like being able to — and I’m just spitballing here — “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” without anyone thinking the worse of you, or “order[ing] SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival” without being prosecuted criminally.
Earlier this week, while editorializing around Ukraine settlement talks taking place in Riyadh (without the participation of Ukraine), I wrote that “Trump doubtlessly blames his first impeachment in part on Zelensky.” It’s “laughable,” I went on, that “this US president” could ever be convinced to prioritize the defense of democratic ideals “over a deeply personal grievance.” The situation’s made immeasurably worse by the fact that the other party to the conflict is a man Trump holds up as an autocratic paragon.
Fast forward around 24 hours, and Trump delivered what, even for him, counted as a wild (and wildly dangerous) string of vitriolic calumnies aimed at Zelensky. Most (all) readers have surely found their way over to TruthSocial by now to read Trump’s screed, but just in case, here it is:
Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe’s money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn’t Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation. On top of this, Zelensky admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only “TRUMP,” and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the “gravy train” going. I love Ukraine, but Zelensky has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues…..
The sheer brazenness and scope of Trump’s prevaricating would be impressive were it not for the existential stakes. If I’m honest (and God knows I try to be that, if nothing else), I draw amusement from his shrill obloquies more often than I should, but not here. I realize most Americans (and global citizens in general) are desensitized to Trump’s shrieking by now, but it’s without hesitation that I suggest the disjointed broadside copied above constitutes to most dangerous slander he’s ever ventured, at least in public.
When I say Trump’s reading directly from Moscow’s talking points, I don’t mean that in the same way I might say it vis-à-vis a Tulsi Gabbard. I mean it almost literally. As close to literally as Trump could get without appearing in the Rose Garden (which he wants to pave, by the way) and reading from a piece of paper adorned with Kremlin letterhead. It’s almost word-for-word in places from something Maria Zakharova might say, with allowances for inexplicable capitalization, bad punctuation and so on.
But here’s the thing: Trump probably believes most of what he said about Zelensky on Wednesday. I don’t necessarily think this is an example of any witting “collusion.” Not if witting collusion means Trump’s aware that, in fact, he’s the one being played “like a fiddle,” but for reasons we don’t fully understand, he’s compelled to sell out democracy to a dictator. Rather, I think it’s far more likely that Trump genuinely trusts Putin as a leader he can talk to, strongman-to-strongman, and get an honest assessment of the dynamics in Eastern Europe.
Trump, in my estimation, is reading directly from the Kremlin’s talking points not because he’s wittingly compromised, but because he’s a simpleton who doesn’t understand the extent to which Putin, a trained spy, is exploiting him. Last week, we saw Trump take to social media to boast, childlike, that on a call about Ukraine, Putin “even used my very strong campaign slogan of ‘common sense.'” It didn’t seem to occur to Trump that he was describing his own manipulation.
It’s the same thing here. Putin plainly (plainly) played up Trump’s concerns about unequal defense spending on their call (or on some subsequent call the public isn’t aware of), and Trump arguably doesn’t understand the nexus between his gripe with Brussels in that regard and the Kremlin’s efforts to water down America’s Article 5 commitment.
Do note: The circularity on display here is the hallmark of Russian propaganda. It’s an Inception-like process. The Kremlin puts an idea in your head and they leave with no trace, such that you think it’s your idea. Eventually, your rhetoric, goals and interests begin to converge with theirs, and it all feels natural. Your mind doesn’t know it was compromised.
That’s not a theory, folks. It’s a fact. As detailed in “The Consultant,” I’ve seen that process at work, first-hand. It’s a real thing, and millions of citizens across the Western world have been subjected to it over the past decade, Trump being one of them.
None of that’s to say there isn’t direct collusion between Trump and Moscow. There may well be, and if there is, it’s obviously terrifying. But in my view, it’s even scarier to ponder the distinct possibility that Trump isn’t fully aware of just how compromised he is, and make no mistake: That man’s compromised. If there were any doubts, Trump’s roaring vilification of Zelensky on Wednesday should put them to bed.
On Thursday, Trump quoted Elon Musk who said, “The President’s instincts on Ukraine are absolutely right.” It’s “really sad,” Musk went on, “that so many parents have lost their sons, and so many sons their fathers in this pointless war.” Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported in October, following up on The New Yorker‘s reporting, “has been in regular contact” with Putin “since late 2022.”
I see two psychological parts of your article above. The first part is an adoration much like a person demands adoration in a couples partnership. The adoration in this case and in toxic love partnerships is enforced forcefully and negatively. This does much to explain how some people love trump so much because it feels like their toxic relationships.
The other part is the leaving a thought without at trace such that it becomes your own. What a simple yet powerful concept. This is used in advertising and we are caught into this branding or cultural propaganda in a never ending cycle of consumerism.
I feel like I better understand these phenomena because I can relate them to my personal experience. Now to understand how to counteract them. It also explains how popular support can collapse in an instant as another view becomes ‘cool’. So is the solution to Trump is simply to make kindness be cool? Or some other cool thought that benefits humanity?
I also see how I might be resistant to this type of person and propaganda due to my history. Not only understanding the phenomena but understanding myself as well.
I suppose there will be Americans falling out of windows in America soon.
It seems we have become a vassal state of Russia.
Eight years ago when Trump passed top secret intelligence to Putin when he made his first visit to the white house, bragged about it and Congress just watched him do it.
You are correct.
However I think there is an antidote to all this craziness. I think it is imbedded in the article above but I cannot put my finger on it for sure.
To then watch Republican senators who see what’s happening fall over themselves to explain it away is the worst case of the “Emperor has no clothes” that I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. I think most of them see what’s happening and are either more concerned about their own necks or want to believe that this is some grand negotiating strategy.
We’ve got an Australian (Murdoch), South African, and a Russian dictating our foreign policy in ways that are simply shocking. To once again quote Frank Grimes, “That’s the man in charge of our safety? It boggles the mind.” Cue Homer trying to drink acid.
We’re already at the point that after a weekend at Daytona and 3 straight days of home golf, he has averred that many of the federal workers he has summarily fired were often off playing golf on the public’s dime.
His default setting of pathological lying would seem to make him particularly vulnerable to Putin’s seed-planting exercise (not to mention similar efforts by the Heritage Foundation or the Federalist Society). The Frank Grimes reference above is perfect here, and also reminds me of a similar episode where Homer eats his way to a work from home disability, then employs a drinking bird to fill-in for him so he can go see a matinee starring Pauly Shore and Faye Dunaway. We probably owe The Simpsons thanks for conditioning us to find the humorous side of nuclear catastrophe. I haven’t watched the show in some time, but if there’s been an episode about an airliner crashing into a cooling tower, I’d like to know about it.
Elon Musk running DOGE is like the time Homer met his half-brother:
Herb: Okay, Homer, pick any one of these.
Homer: You are giving me a car? But Herb, are these not expensive?
Herb: {chuckling} Come on Homer, there is at a maximum only forty dollars worth of steel in each of these things! So which one do you want?
Homer: None.
Herb: Why not?
Homer: I do not like any of them.
Herb: Why not?
Homer: They do not look that flashy.
Executive #1: Sir, Americans do not like flashy cars. They want plain, economical vehicles.
Homer: And they do not look like they can tear up the road.
Executive #2: Sir, Americans do not want cars that are burners. Americans want good mileage.
Herb: Homer, tell the nice man what country you come from.
Homer: America.
Herb: {enraged} Do you hear that, ya morons!? This is why we’re getting killed in the marketplace! Instead of listening to people what they want; you’re telling them what they want. (to Homer) I need your help.
Homer: You do?
Herb: Yeah. I want you to help me design a car. A car for all the Homer Simpsons out there. I want to pay you $200,000 a year!
Homer: And I wanna let you!
Terrifying for anyone reliant on NATO for security. Can’t imagine the feeling in Ukraine when years of valiant resistance are suddenly vilified and may be undone by “TRUMP,” out of the blue.
Can you imagine if everyone talked like he does?
Like, imagine if that Dimon editorial in the right-hand column of JPMorgan’s quarterlies said this at the end:
“We had a very GOOD ‘quarter’ with RECORD ‘revenue,’ but due to the terrible Uncertainty surrounding forever wars, ‘visibility’ for the current quarter is poor. In the meantime, we are successfully navigating a challenging environment, something all admit only ‘JAMIE’ can do. And so it continues…….”
It would be absolutely hilarious if you didn’t have to think of the adults who find their lives now depend on tweets or “truths” by someone writing like an, I don’t know, seven year old?
Putin at least is literate and witty. Which is of course an immensely bad thing right now.
Idiocrary here we come! I hope it has electrolytes.
The most epic of useful idiots. If someone told him that in his face, he’d need a minute or three before deciding whether it’s a compliment or an insult.
It’s amazing just how wildly successful (from Putin’s point-of-view) his single phone call with Trump really was. Putin basically upended long-standing US foreign policy in 90 minutes. They must be sitting around the Kremlin, sipping vodka and saying to each other. “I can’t believe it was that easy!”
I’ve often wondered, is our guy that clueless, or does Putin have kompromat on him? Thank you, sir, for the excellent article, you’ve provided us great insight, again.
That regular contact between Musk and Putin since 2022 explains a lot. Musk is the Trump whisperer and the richest man alive is clearly compromised and spewing Kremlin propaganda to the imbecile in chief, all while working relentlessly to promote fringe ideas (and political parties) in the US and Europe, troubling indeed. The end of our nation is coming fast and hard, not sure what can slow this train now.
According to the Atomic Audit: The costs and consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 to 1996 the US spent 5.48 Trillion dollars on the Nuclear program. It’s a shame we spent all that money to protect our way of life so we wouldn’t have a dictator run things. Now we elected a dictator that has put an oligarch in charge of destroying the government so he can make more money. Our democracy has already been destroyed and checks and balances have been unenforced by the courts and congress.
Long live the King!
You can rest assured the King, and I do not mean rock and roll, will take care of his loyal subjects. Those other 90% well not so much.
Russia has been waging a war on the West for over a decade a not a thing has been done about it. It’s sheer brilliance dismantling your enemies without them noticing.
Got to hand it to them on that. They outsmarted us.
I sadly fear many people do not yet recognize we are now a Russian vassal state.
Why wouldn’t Zelensky want to strike a cost sharing, revenue sharing deal from mining rights with the UK and France, instead of the US- which is obviously not a reliable, long term partner (see history of US involvement in other countries).
It seems like the sooner they get the economy growing, the better. Build up/protect the Odessa port and start rebuilding infrastructure and the economy.
Zelensky is a lot younger than Putin- in a few years, if the inhabitants of the currently Russian controlled areas along the Black Sea believe they will be economically better off and have more rights being part of Ukraine instead of Russia- those occupants will make the “reunification” of Ukraine happen.
If the US wants to help, they can continue sanctions against Russia and start drilling and encouraging global oil producers to increase oil production to drop prices.
After TRUMP finishes turning Gaza into a seaside resort, he can build one on the Black Sea. 🙂