Trump Turns On Putin At Last (Cue Maniacal Laughter)

The rabid dog bites his master.

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When Trump won and cut off money and arms to Ukraine, I wondered how long it would be before we started selling weapons to Russia. How long would it be before we started sending money to Russia? After all, Trump was so obviously a Russian asset beholden to Putin, why wouldn’t he? God knows Russia needed the help.

Russia’s first priority was to have us stop supporting Ukraine, which is exactly what we did. This had to happen because Russia was in really bad shape. China was kind of helping them, and so was Iran (not anymore, though. They’re occupied). North Korea was also sending troops and weapons, but Ukraine still had all of Europe sending advanced weapons and money and supplies.

This was the hard lesson Nazi Germany learned. They simply could not match the resources marshalled by the Allies. And not for nothing, the Russian military is dogshit. They have shitty equipment, shitty training, shitty leadership, shitty tactics, and shitty morale, while the Ukrainian military is far better trained and far more motivated with better equipment, leadership, and tactics. On top of that, Ukraine signed a half-trillion-dollar mineral rights deal with the United States and we had started sending weapons again, albeit at a reduced rate. Money talks in Trump world, and half a trillion talks very loudly.

So, Russia really needed help, and American money and weapons would fit the bill. At the very least, they needed an end to the sanctions squeezing their rapidly crumbling economy.

But that’s not what they got.

Donald Trump said he has sealed an agreement with Nato allies that will lead to large-scale arms deliveries to Ukraine, including Patriot missiles, and warned Russia that it will face severe sanctions if Moscow does not make peace within 50 days.

After a meeting with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, Trump said they had agreed “a very big deal”, in which “billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States, going to Nato … And that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

That’s a problem for the beleaguered Russia. Ukraine armed is Ukraine that can’t be overrun. The Russian military is not up to the task. Worse, Ukraine has become very adept at launching strikes deep inside Russia’s borders, something the warmongering nation has not had to deal with since WWII. As long as the fighting was “over there,” the Russian people could look away even as hundreds of thousands of their men were slaughtered or severely injured.

But if the war is everywhere, including in “safe” cities several hundred miles from the front? People are going to get mad at the government that promised them a quick and easy victory three long years ago.

Now, here’s where things enter the red zone for Putin:

At the same time, Trump expressed increased frustration with Vladimir Putin, whom he accused of giving the impression of pursuing peace while intensifying attacks on Ukrainian cities. He gave the Russian president a new deadline of 50 days to end the fighting or face 100% tariffs on Russian goods, and more importantly, sweeping “secondary tariffs”, suggesting trade sanctions would be imposed on countries who continue to pay for Russian oil and other commodities.

“The secondary tariffs are very, very powerful,” the president said.

The announcement marked a dramatic change for the administration, both in substance and tone.

Uhhhhh…yeah. That’s putting it mildly. The tariffs don’t mean anything since we don’t really have any trade with Russia. Imposing trade sanctions on other countries still trading with Russia, though? That would be a huge blow to what is left of Russia’s economy.

So…what’s happening here? How did Trump move from Putin sycophant to antagonizing him?

My podcast cohost, Florida Woman Rants, has some thoughts on this:

There’s one thing about Trump that is not often considered when we talk about whether he’s capable of successfully negotiating an end to the war or if he actually wants to: the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump is obsessed with getting the Nobel Peace Prize. His ego can’t stand that former President Obama has one and he doesn’t. He probably thinks that if he can end the Russian war on Ukraine and bring “peace” to the Middle East, then he will get a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s giving ’90s pageant queen.

By refusing to help Trump fulfill his campaign promise to end the war, Putin is making Trump look like a fool AND fucking up his chances of getting one of the few things he cannot buy or bully his way into owning: The same Nobel Peace Prize Obama has that’s been sticking in Trump’s craw for well over a decade.

I think, however, there’s a lot more to this than just Trump’s frustrated jealousy of a smarter, more popular, and better-looking Black man.

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Trump has been on Putin’s leash since the 1980s. Whether through blackmail, bribery, or simple manipulation of a weak and easily flattered dolt, Trump has been Russia’s bitch for decades. That was before the Russian mob poured hundreds of millions into Trump’s failing real estate business to keep it solvent. And before Russia helped steal the 2016 election for history’s most useful idiot.

But now Trump is President of the United States. More importantly, Trump is president for a second time and believes he no longer has to worry about future elections. He does have to worry because he’s going to be removed from the White House in handcuffs or a bodybag when he loses in November of 2028 and refuses to leave on January 20, 2029, but for the moment, Trump is convinced he’s going to be ruler of America for life.

So…why does he need Putin? He didn’t need Russia to win in 2024. He had Elon Musk for that. He doesn’t need Putin’s money. Not anymore. The Trump hotel in DC was a nice way to accept bribes the first time around, but now? Trump can take unlimited amounts of money through crypto bribes and is worth billions. Russian money means nothing to him, especially now that the Supreme Court has given Trump complete immunity for all criminal acts.

What about the kompromat? Who cares? The pee tape? Fake news! Trump having sex with an underage girl? Fake news! Putin could release an HD video of Trump raping a 14-year-old and the entire right-wing media would circle the wagons to declare it AI-generated. Not one single Republican would vote to remove him from office.

So, Putin has no leverage on Trump anymore.

But what about Trump’s adoration of dictators and strongmen? Yeah…about that…

Does Putin seem…strong to you? He’s supposed to be the leader of a superpower. The great and ferocious Iron Bear. Veeeerry tough and scary!

And then they got their asses beat like a drum by little Ukraine. They literally dropped their toughest and most battle-hardened troops into the capital for a decapitation strike, the feared Spetznatz. Ukraine gobbled them up and didn’t even spit out the bones. They just…disappeared.

Three years later, Russia has one MILLION casualties. 250,000 dead and the rest wounded. It’s so bad, they’re sending men out to fight on crutches. This is not a war Russia is winning. They’re doing so badly, Trump has started to praise Ukraine for how hard they’re hitting back. This was AFTER Trump had Zelensky in the Oval Office to publicly humiliate him. Clearly, he’s far more impressed with Ukraine than with Russia.

There are two things at play here:

1. Trump wants the war to end. No doubt in part because, as Florida Woman says, he wants a Nobel Peace Prize. But also because the longer the war goes on, the more he looks like a schmuck. He keeps telling Putin to stop, and Putin keeps saying, “Sure…sure…whatever you say!” and then bombs Ukraine again.
   
   But Putin cannot stop the war because to stop is to admit defeat, and that is the end of him. Probably literally. His image as a strongman depends on his conquering Ukraine. If he fails to deliver, what was the point of three years of bloodshed, deprivation, and internal crackdowns on the public? Putin will “accidentally” fall out of an open window within a month.

2. Now that Putin looks weak, Trump no longer wants to be his buddy. In Trumpland, weakness is the ultimate sin. Trump loves himself tough guys. Dictators who are manly and GRRRRRR!!!! Awesome!
   
   Is Putin manly and GRRRR!!! Awesome? Not really. Republicans hamstrung the United States’ response for years under Biden and Putin still couldn’t seal the deal. Now Ukraine is slapping the shit out of Russia in really cool and nifty ways, humiliating the much bigger, supposedly more powerful country? Shit, Ukraine chased the Russian fleet out of the Black Sea and they don’t even have a fucking navy! How embarrassing is that!?

   
   So if Putin is weak and Trump is the leader of the most powerful country in the world, why would he fawn over a chump? Especially one that isn’t doing what he wants?

This is where we are now. Trump told Putin to do something and Putin refused. But no one says “No” to Trump anymore. Certainly not a weak-ass country like Russia. You know, the country that needs Trump a hell of a lot more than Trump needs them.

What does Trump do to people or countries that disobey? He hurts them. In this case, he is selling Ukraine the weapons it needs to continue giving Russia a bloody nose. If Putin refuses to end the war, my guess is that Trump will, in fact, order sanctions on countries doing business with Russia in retaliation.

That will be interesting to watch because his regime is filled with Putin stooges. Just two weeks ago, Pete Hegseth blocked a weapons shipment to Ukraine without Trump’s authorization or knowledge. In most countries, we call that treason and people end up in prison for it. But, you know, just a Tuesday in Trump’s America.

Anyway! Keep an eye on this. If Putin continues to piss off Trump, Trump will absolutely escalate because he’s the most powerful man in the world and he knows it. There’s a very real possibility that Vladimir Putin created the very thing that will destroy him and that kind of irony is legendary.

It’s even better because Russia is a primary source of money and propaganda for white nationalism across the globe. If Russia collapses, it will deal a huge blow to the far right everywhere, all thanks to America’s fascist leader. We won’t know the fallout until it happens, but the possibility is very real, as are the chances of me laughing myself to death. Fingers crossed!!!

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