Tag: Vladimir Putin

IT’S ALL ABOUT… “THE DONALD.”

By Terence Smith

Call it the Retribution Express. Most, if not all, of President Donald Trump’s erratic, contradictory, chaotic initiatives in the first two months of his off-the-wall second term, aka Trump 2.0, can be understood by how they affect The Donald. It is non-stop score settling.
—Cancelling $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University? Ostensibly, it is about Columbia’s DEI programs and pro-Palestinian demonstrations. But trace the cancelation back to Trump’s very public dispute with Columbia when the then-real estate magnate tried to sell the University some Manhattan property at an estimated four times its worth. Columbia dismissed the proposed deal, publicly embarrassing The Donald. Check.
—Trump’s open admiration for Russia’s Vladimir Putin? On one level, the President simply admires dictators who get things done and exercise control the way he wants to here. On another, trace it back to Trump’s long-standing desire to get Putin’s backing for a Trump Tower in Moscow. Check.
—Lifting the security clearances for certain law firms and barring them from Federal buildings? Trump calls it “law fare” against him; the lawyers maintain they are being targeted for prior legal actions. Trace it back and you’ll find that the affected law firms challenged Trump in the past.
—Trump’s bizarre and utterly unworkable proposal that the U.S. take over Gaza, deport the Palestinian residents and redevelop the Strip into a high-end beach resort, aka “the Riviera of the Middle East.” Trace it back and you’ll find a similar proposal from Jared Kushner, his opportunistic son-in-law.
I could go on, but you get the idea. His actions are classic score-settling. Psychiatrists have diagnosed it as “malignant narcissism.”
Call it what you will. It is all about The Donald.

Putin’s Delight

Even in the midst of a cold Moscow winter, Vladimir Putin must be feeling warm and satisfied as he reads the headlines these days from Europe and the United States.
I suspect he smiles to himself as he watches Britain’s Brexit debacle, Emanuel Macron’s desperate “listening tour,” Germany’s sagging economy and the nationalist, anti-immigrant, right-wing rumblings coming from Italy, Hungary, Poland and beyond. Yes, he must say to himself, yes, indeed.
And he no doubt feasts his eyes on the chaos in Washington: a shuttered government, a paralyzed Congress, daily Trumpian tantrums, trade wars, counter-intelligence investigations and roiling markets. Yes, yes indeed. It is all going according to plan, Putin says to his aides and cyberwarfare specialists.
Putin knew it would be a long-term project to destabilize the West; he never thought the wheels would start coming off so soon. He certainly never dreamed that Trump would suddenly pull U.S. troops from Syria, creating an inviting vacuum for Russia and Iran to fill. It’s simply too much to hope for.
So, now the stage is set for more Russian adventures in Ukraine, increased pressure on the Baltic states and more mischief in Syria and Afghanistan.
What a happy new year it is turning out to be!