https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-relationship-4decfe96?mod=hp_lead_pos7
When President Trump met Russia’s Vladimir Putin for their first bilateral summit, in the Finnish capital of Helsinki in July 2018, the two men cloistered themselves for hours with no advisers present.
Once they emerged to a packed news conference, Trump tossed a gift from the Russian president—a soccer ball meant for Trump’s son Barron—to the front row where America’s senior-most officials sat. Trump then stunned his team by saying he believed Putin, and not America’s own intelligence services, about whether Russia interfered in the 2016 elections that brought him to power.
No doubt in my mind the Russians have something on Trump. Photos, a video, or maybe they've been sliding him money to keep him solvent. They have something on them.
ReplyDeleteBut here's the bigger picture - until WW2, the idea of the major powers deciding the fate of the world without consulting the smaller contries involved was pretty standard. We recall the demolition of Czechoslovakia in 1938 with outrage now but at the time, that's how international politics worked. Even after the war, the US and USSR decided on the fate of chunks of the world without asking those chunks what they thought about it. It was only after the USSR collapsed and the US decided it didn't want to take over the world that suddenly all theese middle powers got a say in things.
Trump sees that this is no longer working. China is now a rival power to the US. Russia is trying to reassert itself. So the era of the great powers deciding things has returned. This isn't an aberration but a return to the prior model.
Trump is smart when it comes to doing real estate deals with smaller players. But because he doesn't have an Intelligence background and fires advisers for doing their job (ie give him unbiased expertise). He's not able to comprehend how Putin works, his KGB methods of deception etc.
DeleteNope! Trump has long history of failure in real estate.
DeleteHe understands Putin and desires to be just like him.
He doesn't justify your attempt at defense!
If failure is having a $4 Bn worth, then I'd like to know your definition of success..
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35318432