Trump: Putin's Useful Idiot?

Updated (2022-03-20)

It's hard to tell if Trump is a Russian asset or mainly just a useful idiot.

Lest anybody forget, heres a list some of the things Trump and his government did around Putin, Russia and the Ukraine:

• Trump praises ‘genius’ Putin for moving troops to eastern Ukraine source

• Former National Security Advisor John Bolton says 'Putin was waiting' for Trump to withdraw the United States from NATO in his second term. source

• Trump met privately with Putin for 4 hours in Helsinki, and the only other American he allowed in the room was a translator. source

• Next time he met Putin was without a US translator. source

• Scoop: Trump's private NATO trashing rattles allies. source

• Trump invited the Russian foreign minister (and Putin crony) Lavrov for a private meeting in the Oval Office - US photographers were banned, but Russian ones were allowed. source

• Trump praised Putin constantly, called him a "strong leader", has peddled statements like "he's done a really great job outsmarting our country" source

• Trump dismissed and cast doubt about Russian hacking, particularly when the U.S determined that Russia hacked the DNC in 2016, while ironically enough, he encouraged Russian cyber attacks on national TV saying, "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," source

• When addressing Russian election interference and cyber attacks, Trump proclaimed "I don't see any reason why it would be Russia" after speaking directly with Putin, defending Russia and trusting Putin over our own intelligence agencies. Later he "corrected" himself, claiming that he meant to say "wouldn't" instead of would source

• Trump suggested the U.S. work directly with Russia on cybersecurity source

• Almost directly after the 2016 election, Trump sought to weaken U.S. sanctions on Russia, while he was even open to lifting sanctions source

• Trump dismissed the notion that Putin was a "killer", downplaying the idea that Putin resorts to using violence and oppressive tactics to crush political opponents. He defended Putin, rationalizing his ruthless despotism in the process, declaring, "There are a lot of killers. Do you think our country is so innocent?" source

• 37 times Trump was soft on Russia. source

• Trump shared highly classified U.S. intelligence with Russian officials in the Oval Office in 2017 source

• Trump repeated Kremlin talking points related to the Russian annexation of Crimea, reiterating things like, "The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were." source

• Trump constantly attacked NATO, aligning himself with Putin source

• Trump thanked Putin for expelling hundreds of U.S. diplomats as a retaliation for sanctions source

• Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum while Republicans were working on a deal with Oleg Deripaska, one of Putin’s most trusted oligarchs, on an alumina plant in Kentucky source

• Opinion: Five vile things Trump did to Zelensky and Ukraine that you forgot about source

• According to congressional testimony, Trump declined to publicly condemn a Russian attack against Ukrainian military vessels in November 2018, even though the State Department prepared a statement for him source

• Trump congratulated and gave legitimacy to Putin's re election win in 2018, a victory said to "lack genuine competition" source

• Sergei Skripal, an ex Russian spy that defected to the UK, was poisoned. Sanctions were announced, Trump attempted to rescind them, while asserting that the U.S. was being "too tough on Putin" source

• When congress passed new sanctions against Russia in 2017, Trump was very reluctant to signing the bill, and probably wouldn't have signed it if the bill didn't pass with veto-proof majorities in both houses source

• In 2017 it was reported that Trump was considering returning spy bases to Russia source

• Trump praised and highlighted pro-Russian leaders in Europe. Far right European leaders with close ties to Putin. He even met a Kremlin ally at the Whitehouse source

• When Trump withdrew troops from Syria, it gave Russia and Putin an opportunity to control abandoned U.S. outposts and checkpoints source

• Trump froze U.S. aide for Ukraine in it's war against Russian proxies. He repeated Russian disinformation surrounding Ukraine as well source

• Trump made requests to bring Russia back into the G7 and invited Putin to the 2020 G7 summit source

• Trump watered down support for U.S. assistance to Ukraine source

• This Extensive Mashup Confirms Trump’s Love for Putin source

• Trump paid nearly $100,000 in 1987 to run a anti-NATO Ad after a trip to Eastern Europe. source

• Trump fired the Director of the FBI for investigating the Trump campaign's connections to Russians (including the convicted-then-pardoned traitor, General Michael Flynn, who lied to the FBI about his secret meetings with Russians)

• Trump has been on Putin's side in Ukraine's long struggle against Russian aggression. source

The list is based on Ghoulius-Caesar's post on reddit.

Now the failed businessman clown grifter has thrown his hat in the ring for a third presidental run. Great timing! I'm sure Putin is pleased. He's apparently the top of the running for the GOP. The party with no platform other than to pay homage to daddy Trump, whilst Trump pays homage to daddy Putin. You'd think they'd be embarrassed, but there seems no bottom to the GOPs shamelessness, hypocrisy and cruelty.

I guess it's obvious but it's worth saying clearly - the GOP and right wing media is of course complicit.

• How Putin's oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns source

• Top Republican was recorded suggesting that Putin pays Trump. source

• Trump’s stance on Russia haunts the GOP source

• It is important to remember in the first impeachment trial, nearly every House and Senate Republican stood firmly behind the president. source

• Putin’s full-scale information war got a key assist from Donald Trump and right-wing media. source

• INF nuclear treaty: US pulls out of Cold War-era pact with Russia source

• Right-Wing Ultra-Nationalists Are Putin’s Useful Idiots source

It seems Putin is following Foundations of Geopolitics. These following points are taken from the wiki page:

• The United Kingdom, merely described as an "extraterritorial floating base of the U.S.", should be cut off from Europe

• Ukraine should be annexed by Russia

• Georgia should be dismembered

• Finland should be absorbed into Russia

Russia should use its special services within the borders of the United States to fuel instability and separatism, for instance, provoke "Afro-American racists". Russia should "introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements – extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S. It would also make sense simultaneously to support isolationist tendencies in American politics".

Foundations of Geopolitics wiki

Some other links:

• Donald Trump Was Everything Vladimir Putin Could Have Wished For

• Republican Group Reminds Fox New Viewers About Trump And Putin In Damning Ad