Trump Is Still Gaga for Putin

President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday. Alex Brandon/AP

There are so many twisted and alarming plotlines in the Donald Trump nightmare that it’s natural that some fade from the national discourse. But that does not mean they’re gone. One such element is Trump’s bromance with Vladimir Putin, the Russian tyrant and war criminal. You don’t hear all that much about it these days, given all the other outrages and debacles for which Trump is responsible. But this past week, Trump brought it back to center stage.

At a Q&A with reporters after his meeting on Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said, “I talk to President Putin a lot, and he wants to end the war.”

This remark came days after Putin launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Ukraine and killed dozens.

Ever since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Putin yearns for an end to the war, and he steadfastly has refused to acknowledge that Putin is responsible for the conflict and could stop it by...just stopping it. Throughout the first half of last year, analysts in the US intelligence agencies repeatedly concluded that Putin had no interest in halting the war, for he believed that he had the resources and military power to outlast Ukraine and achieve his territorial aims.

Do intelligence analysts still see it that way? Who knows what’s happening within the intelligence community now being run by Trump’s lackeys? But whatever the experts think, Trump keeps insisting that his pal Vlad desires an end to the war. In one way, he does—but it’s an end on his own terms. He clearly doesn’t want to stop the killing and destruction until he achieves something he can call victory or until he has no other choice. He’s a murderous fiend, and Trump keeps vouching for him as a decent fellow aghast at the bloodshed.

This Putin legitimizing—SOP for Trump, who has long sought to be the Russian’s BFF—was not the big news out of the NATO shindig. Instead, what prompted headlines was Trump’s praise of Zelenskyy—he’s “done an amazing job,” Trump said—and his promise to grant Ukraine permission to produce the Patriot air defense interceptors it sorely needs to protect itself from Putin’s deadly ballistic missile attacks.

There’s a bit of a catch to this. It could take years for Ukraine to produce these anti-missile missiles, and it needs them now. And can Trump be trusted to keep this promise? Over the past 18 months, he has continuously zigzagged on support for Ukraine. At times, his administration has halted military assistance and intelligence sharing, and he has declined to call Ukraine an ally. Last fall, Trump weighed providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles but then decided not to, after Putin told him that supplying those weapons to Kyiv would damage US-Russia relations.

Trump’s relationship with Zelenskyy has infamously been volatile. On a few occasions, he has hailed the Ukrainian’s leadership. But he has also berated him in the Oval Office, referred to him as a “dictator,” and frequently blamed him for the war’s continuation. He has repeatedly suggested that Zelenskyy should hand over a large swath of Ukraine to Putin to end the conflict—which is what Putin wants. So anything Trump said this week about Zelenskyy and helping Ukraine could mean nothing next week.

The same goes for his recent statements that he believes the war could be over soon. Trump has been saying this since the start of his second term. Prior to that, he repeatedly declared that he could resolve the war in 24 hours. His remarks about Ukraine—like his assertions about the Iran war—carry little weight. As with all matters, he says whatever he thinks is to his benefit at the moment—with no regard for the truth—and it has no bearing on what he later might say or do.

It's true that Putin may be under greater pressure these days. After Ukraine’s extensive drone strikes on Russia’s oil refinery infrastructure, Russia’s gasoline production is down by an estimated 25 percent. This has led to gasoline shortages, causing long lines at filling stations and difficulties for the agricultural harvest. So perhaps now would be an ideal time for Trump to lean on his bud. But he has eschewed such opportunities in the past. Last month at the G7 summit, Trump dismissed the US role in ending the war. “Look,” he said, “we have nothing to do with it.” Which must have been music to Putin’s ears.

At the joint press conference with Zelenskyy, Trump asked reporters if they had any questions he should put to Putin during a call he had scheduled with the Russian leader later that day. One journalist suggested: “When will he end this war?” Trump responded, “That’s a good question. I don’t think I’ve ever asked him that question.”

Really? He’s never asked Putin when he’ll stop the carnage and end this illegal invasion of a democratic nation that was a US ally? What the hell, then, do they talk about? How to pocket billions of dollars as a head of state?

Trump remains a Putin fanboy, and he continues to take actions welcomed by Moscow, including stirring conflict within NATO and diminishing the ability of the US intelligence community to counter Russian skullduggery. But perhaps most appreciated by the Kremlin are Trump’s efforts to cast a murderous dictator as a fine and caring fellow who craves an end to this horrific war. It’s as if the American president is running a disinformation operation for Russia.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland.corn@gmail.com.

There’s something about this photo…

The Graham Platner story—the oysterman-turned-politician with a Nazi tattoo was credibly accused of rape—seemed like bad news for the Democrats, who are counting on booting Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as part of their long-shot bid to win the US Senate, though perhaps his implosion will lead to a better candidate. One notable development was that prominent Dems who had endorsed Platner, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, moved quickly to un-endorse. But Republicans and MAGA-heads immediately exploited the scandal to suggest that Democrats were too willing to accept a perfidious candidate accused of sexual assault.

There was this exchange on Fox News between Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Trumpist Kellyanne Conway:

Kennedy: He is a predator. And you don't want him anywhere near power.

Conway: These allegations of abuse and assault, and disparaging our military...It just goes on and on and never seems enough for...the Democratic Party to chuck this guy...For the Democrats, they don’t believe all women.

Fox News commentator Gianno Caldwell joined the fray:

The moral compass in the Democratic Party has long been dead...They’ve already prioritized winning over anything else. This is where we are as a country. You can pick the good guys, which are more likely Republicans. Or you can pick the Democrats, who continuously show us...they are not morally responsible.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy weighed in:

That one thing I know about Republicans. When we had a very bad candidate and found out, we didn't vote for that person. We walked away.

McCarthy was referring to former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was accused of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. But House Republicans refused to censure him and even voted against releasing an ethics committee report on his misdeeds. That is, they did not act against him. Gaetz resigned from Congress; he was not kicked out.

The big point here is the obvious one: All these commentators are Trumpers who have supported a man credibly accused of sexual misconduct by over two dozen women. And in an act of perfect timing, this week, a federal judge ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid the $5 million jury award she received in a civil case in which Trump was found liable for having sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. (Three years ago, the judge noted that Trump’s attack on Carroll could be called “rape.”)

There could not be a clearer distinction. Once Platner faced a credible allegation of rape, Democrats abandoned him. But despite all the accusations of sexual assault levied against Trump—and his own hot-mic confession (or boast) in the Access Hollywood video—Republicans have embraced and even worshiped him.

The GOP’s hyper-hypocrisy and absurd lack of self-awareness were also evident when Vice President JD Vance said, “I ask you a very simple question: When you come to vote in November, are you going to vote for the pro-fraud party?”

He meant the Democrats, but he could have been talking about his own party. Trump has been a pro-fraud president. Look at his pardons. As of January, more than half of the 88 individual pardons he had doled out during this term went to people who had been convicted of white-collar offenses, with bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering the most frequent among them. And, of course, Trump has been the griftiest president ever.

Trump, this week, uttered the usual assortment of idiotic remarks. He said “the Islamic Republic of Japan” had launched missile attacks on the United States, and he again threatened to bomb civilian targets in Iran—a war crime. He also offered this beaut: “Communism’s a disaster. It’s been proven to be for thousands of years.”

I suppose you could argue that he was referring to egalitarian ideologies that have been around since the first centuries of the AD era—many of which were promulgated by Christian sects. But Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto, which gave us modern communism, was published in 1848—hardly thousands of years ago. Trump’s chronological nonsense is minor compared to his promotion of the demagogic bullshit that the United States is now threatened by communism—a desperate attempt to counter his plummeting approval rating with ham-fisted fearmongering. Make America Great Again really means bring us back to the 1950s, including the Red Scare.

Trump was blocked from receiving the trophy this week by his own Department of Education, which posted an important message on social media:

Indeed. American history is worth learning. The problem here? That photo is of British suffragettes. It is unrelated to our past. Accurate history is worth learning. For unintentionally reminding us of that, the Education Department is our winner. 

This ad for Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who’s running for governor, is both stupid and arguably racist.

We’ve seen right-wing politicians claim they’re hard asses by brandishing and firing assault weapons. But proving you’re tough by crumbling cookies? That’s hardly a sign of strength.

By the way, the fortune cookie didn’t come from China. Its origins trace back to Japan, and the cookie migrated to the United States, via Japanese bakeries and restaurants, in the early 1900s. When Japanese Americans were rounded up and placed in internment camps during World War II, Chinese American entrepreneurs stepped in and started producing the treats. That’s how they became associated with Chinese restaurants.

Not that we should expect Blackburn to care about any of this. But believing that crushing a cookie conveys fortitude is silly. Perhaps her next ad could show her kicking a Pekingese.

You know the saying that everything Trump touches turns to...He intervened in the World Cup and pressed FIFA, the international soccer organization, to allow Folarin Balogun, the star striker for the US men’s team, to play in Monday’s game against Belgium, though Balogun was banned from the match after receiving a red card in the previous game. That call was questionable, but Trump’s interference had the stench of corruption. Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA (who last year awarded Trump—hah, hah, hah—the newly created FIFA Peace Prize), bent the knee to his pal. Balogun played in the match—over the objections of the Belgian team—and the USA lost in a 4–1 wipeout. Afterward, the Red Devils got the last word—or dance:

At a press conference held by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, this Danish reporter showed how to ask a tough question:

Rutte did not answer it.

And there was this:

Many readers liked the photos I posted in the last issue of my trip to the Netherlands, Croatia, and Italy, even though the pics followed an article noting that being disengaged from the nutty news cycle makes it easier to see that the United States is drowning in a sea of stupid. 

Janet Larsen wrote:

Thank you for sharing. Too bad you had to come back to a place that is filled with horrors! 

And Bobby Nowell emailed:

Take me with you next time. I could use a reboot from this insanity. 

Yes, America is burdened by many horrors these days. But there are also sources of delight here. Find those that suit you and reboot.

There was much reaction to an issue from last month that dissected many of the dumb moves that have been part of Trump’s dumb war in Iran.

Michael Arnolt commented:

David, a well-written article. My request: Please ask some fact-checking entity, such as PolitiFact, to fact-check same. Why? As a former journalist, I am the eternal skeptic. I want to make a decision based on the best available information. I would like to have seen dates tied to each of the Trump comments…and then fact-checked.

Thanks, Mike. But I'm not quite in a position to ask another media outfit to fact-check my work. I assure you, though, the quotes are accurate, and you can simply search for them on Google to see that. 

Stan Green observed:

Trump did achieve his Iran war aim. We stopped talking about Epstein.

There was tremendous reader response to a rerun of my interview with John Fugelsang about his book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds. That was no surprise, given that the original drew much mail from OurLanders.

Gerry Willis wrote:

Your article is absolutely wonderful. This is the Jesus I grew up with and love today—the homeless faith-healer, as mentioned in the article. I’ll be keeping this close by for reference and remembrance.

Richard Arnow was full of praise:

You have long been my favorite writer, and this was the best article ever. I plan to show it to my (Episcopal) priest. I know exactly how Fugelsang feels about these assholes who misuse the Bible. I confine myself to the Gospels and leave the nasty stuff alone.

David Hart shared a personal story:

I fully agree with the positions stated by Fugelsang. As a Bible-believing Christian, I have echoed the sentiments expressed in this article for some time now, probably going back to when Donald Trump decided to first run for president.

I'm African American. For more than a decade, I've had two close friends, males, who are white, and we used to engage in fellowship on Saturdays during Christian-Jewish Messianic services. My perspectives on what those gentlemen really believed in their hearts about scripture began to change when Trump came on the scene. They fully embraced him. During his first term, I gave my white friends leeway, using excuses like Trump was somewhat of an unknown entity in the political-public sphere, even after the Access Hollywood video was released. 

Then January 6, 2021, happened, and there was all the other “dirt” on Trump that has been exposed since then. Those two gentlemen, like so many other like-minded born-again Christians, continued to embrace Trump, vote for him, and support him. I now question their devotion to scripture versus their devotion to Trump. The latter far outweighs the former! I have no ill will towards them. I don't talk much with them anymore. I place them in the category of people that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 15:8: “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips. But their heart is far from me.”

There certainly are many people like that 2,000 years later.

“What’s one of my stuffed toys doing out here?”
“Moxie, that’s a newborn fawn hiding, which they all do for the first two weeks after birth.”
“It’s not doing a very good job. And I smell the fox. What can we do?”
“Unfortunately, not much. You’re not supposed to move it.”
“I guess it’s a dog-eat-dog world.”