The style and speed at which Donald Trump “cheats” in the game when it comes to taking real action against Putin’s Russia is a subject to be studied by diplomats, political leaders, international relations experts, and company CEOs, but also the Mafiosi, tax evaders others of that ilk.
On several recent occasions, the American president has issued some sort of utimatums to the Russian dictator. Invariably, they did not seriously impress anyone – with neither fears in Moscow nor hopes in Kiev and allied capitals – as they were never followed up by appropriate measures.
In fact, the feeling left by Russia’s attitude in recent months is that Trump’s ultimatums not only do they not send shivers down the spine of the Kremlin, on the contrary, they also encourage Vladimir Putin to be increasingly aggressive towards Ukraine and its allies; and to be increasingly impertinent to Trump himself.
After all, Moscow is famous for the art with which it masters and spouts gobbledygook. Russian propaganda has imposed itself worldwide and is one of Russia’s premium industries. As such, when it comes who just talks, Moscow immediately recognizes that person as such and has the necessary skills to work that person to its advantage.
Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has given Putin no reason to take him for anything other than he is – a talker and a noisy one at that and that’s about it.
Moreover, even in the episodes in which Trump had appeared to fiercely clash with Putin, the American president rarely missed an opportunity to send a few poisoned arrows in the direction of the Ukrainian’s administration, particularly at Zelensky, and sometimes also at allies. In this way, Trump’s apparent firmness towards Russia and Putin it absolutely guaranteed as becoming becomes diluted.
Trump’s most recent message of so-called strength toward Russia is more telling more than ever. The abundance use of capital letters is too embarrassing for me to quote it in full, but those who are curious, can find it HERE.
Trump’s latest ultimatum to Russia on Ukraine, is in reality an ultimatum addressed by Trump to the Europeans on China. The message presents the following structural weaknesses:
- Despite appearances, it’s much less about what America can and should do and much more about what Europe MUST do (from time to time, we take note of these capital letters…).
- From Trump’s message, we can also deduce the trivial aspect that, by demanding that Europe take the first step before America takes one, Trump has just left himself a margin to once more postpone taking action against Russia. Of course, if I understood this, let’s imagine that Putin also understands perfectly what it meant and I predict we will once more see the dictator acting accordingly.
- Trump is asking Europe – rather, he is blackmailing Europe – to impose tariffs on China at such a high level that, out of embarrassment, I hardly feel like mentioning him – “50% to 100%”. But this claim, no matter how cartoon-like , deserves to be treated, even if on the run, on the substance. Thus, Trump is asking Europe to impose tariffs on China at a ridiculously high rate when, on the one hand, he himself has reduced Europe’s room for maneuver to do so to zero. How so? Through the wretched tariffs that America has just imposed on Europe, as well as through a forced and blackmailing agreement that forces Europe to allocate vast resources to maintain the trade relationship with the US at at least a level of damage, even if it is just about bearable. On the other hand, Trump is calling on Europe to impose crazy tariffs on China at a time when relevant data and analysis are just beginning to emerge regarding the failure of Trump’s declared tariff war on China. For edification, I invite you to read HERE and especially HERE with what boomerang the American president found himself “caressing” his forehead all this trade conflict with Beijing. It would be massively stupid for the EU to follow up on such an idea. If the EU gave in to such blackmail (but I really don’t worry that something like this would happen, since the EU countries simply do not have the resources)!
- Finally, in addition to the pronounced anti-EU/NATO rather than anti-Russia dimension, Trump’s so-called ultimatum to Putin has once again, a profoundly anti-Zelensky and profoundly anti-Ukraine dimension. In true Trump style, the American president days it is Zelensky and Biden’s “WAR” (I couldn’t reduce the temptation of reproducing his capital letters). And also, in the good Trumpist tradition, we learn from this ultimatum, that it is not exclusively Putin’s war or at least ALSO Putin’s war, since the Kremlin’s dictator’s name is absent from the White House leader’s message.
The correct and coherent part of Trump’s message is the call to Europeans to stop buying Russian oil. But since, elsewhere in the message, Trump is disingenuous, it would be foolish not to suspect him of not having an ulterior motive in the question of European purchase of Russian oil.
In other words, rather than considering strategically depriving Russia of financial resources derived from the export of oil to Europe, it is easier and more realistic to suspect that Trump is secretly thinking that uin this way America could make more money by selling its oil. Here, Trump seems to want to steal from Putin, but the problem is that Putin has already had his hands in Trump’s geopolitical pockets for a long time.
After all, Donald Trump has been a salesman all his life. The greater drama is that he has not evolved at all, even though his salesman talk and the foolishness of others have catapulted him to the White House.
