Zelensky had been on a diplomatic charm offensive on Trump before the election; and it worked wonderfully–so far.
There is a video, but I can’t find it now, which was released before the 2024 US presidential election mentioning that Trump and Putin’s friendly relations had been overstated, because during Trump’s first presidency, him and Putin already have had some spat. I think that video analysis had been accurate thus far seeing as how Trump is trying to coerce Putin at the moment.
It’s more important to know the motivation why Trump probably wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly. There is a very good article explaining that he wants to pivot against China, and to address perceived American security vulnerabilities given China’s growing influence in Latin America as mentioned in the article. As laughable as Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, there is actually some realpolitik sense into it. It is Trump’s attempt to flex on China vis-à-vis Latin America. Basically, he is reigniting the Monroe Doctrine for the 21st century.
Trump just made billions on his shit coin, got all his cases thrown out or nullified, and he’s already won 2nd term. So maybe he doesn’t care about the pee tape anymore.
It’s quite possible they wouldn’t, but I suspect it would depend on the age of the underage girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were under the minimum age in all those 37 states. And of course, he didn’t marry them.
The marriage thing just turns an ethical / moral / health matter into a legal one. If they were really against sex with minors, they’d be against child marriage. But they aren’t, so this is just another way to be outraged at something where they feel there will be no repercussions because the target group is rightfully frowned upon.
Anyhow, if such a tape exists, he could just claim everyone said the girls were over 18; and if they weren’t, maybe the tapes were produced somewhere where sex between them is legal? Remember, all pearl clutching and rule of law talk from them is hollow, this is just “we can do whatever we want and you have to do what we want” behavior, thinly disguised.
You’re trying to apply your logic and values to the whole thing; it doesn’t work because there’s retroactively applied justification at best.
Except America aren’t the only ones supplying Ukraine with weapons and other aid, Europe is doing a lot too. Ukraine will keep fighting without the help of the US, which won’t be a good look for Trump.
There is one thing Trump has said that I wholeheartedly agree with, and it’s that the world relies too much on the US to back them up, and they need to do more to help themselves, and this is a classic example of why.
Pure speculation, but could Trump no longer be as beholden to Putin as he so clearly was in his first term? Musk seems to be holding his reins now, and maybe he realizes any Kompromat the Russians may have had just doesn’t matter any more in the face of his cult of personality.
That said, it seems to be in both parties best interest for Putin to get out of the war while Trump is in office. A president favorable to Russia gets a big win on the world stage, and Russia gets to quietly back out of a conflict that has been a complete disaster for them.
Is he? The two have many shared interest sure, and maybe he has some dirt on Musk. I feel like if Putin was the “grand puppet master” he’s often made out to be then the war in Ukraine would be going much better for him. The article above seems to indicate that Putins influence has waned considerably since 2016.
This is actually a better outcome than I expected for Ukraine. If Putin doesn’t negotiate, he may end up being harsher on Russia than Biden was.
He has a reputation for being friendly with Russia, potentially even compromised by them, and may want to shed that reputation.
Or maybe I’m just naive. We’ll see.
Zelensky had been on a diplomatic charm offensive on Trump before the election; and it worked wonderfully–so far.
There is a video, but I can’t find it now, which was released before the 2024 US presidential election mentioning that Trump and Putin’s friendly relations had been overstated, because during Trump’s first presidency, him and Putin already have had some spat. I think that video analysis had been accurate thus far seeing as how Trump is trying to coerce Putin at the moment.
It’s more important to know the motivation why Trump probably wants to end the war in Ukraine quickly. There is a very good article explaining that he wants to pivot against China, and to address perceived American security vulnerabilities given China’s growing influence in Latin America as mentioned in the article. As laughable as Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, there is actually some realpolitik sense into it. It is Trump’s attempt to flex on China vis-à-vis Latin America. Basically, he is reigniting the Monroe Doctrine for the 21st century.
Trump just made billions on his shit coin, got all his cases thrown out or nullified, and he’s already won 2nd term. So maybe he doesn’t care about the pee tape anymore.
I’m guessing it involves underage girls. Because the threats he make here are completely meaningless and toothless.
I don’t think his supporters would actually care about that. Child marriage is legal in 37 US states.
The guy is a convicted rapist and an Epstein client. People don’t care.
It’s quite possible they wouldn’t, but I suspect it would depend on the age of the underage girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were under the minimum age in all those 37 states. And of course, he didn’t marry them.
The marriage thing just turns an ethical / moral / health matter into a legal one. If they were really against sex with minors, they’d be against child marriage. But they aren’t, so this is just another way to be outraged at something where they feel there will be no repercussions because the target group is rightfully frowned upon.
Anyhow, if such a tape exists, he could just claim everyone said the girls were over 18; and if they weren’t, maybe the tapes were produced somewhere where sex between them is legal? Remember, all pearl clutching and rule of law talk from them is hollow, this is just “we can do whatever we want and you have to do what we want” behavior, thinly disguised.
You’re trying to apply your logic and values to the whole thing; it doesn’t work because there’s retroactively applied justification at best.
Again, it depends how young they are, there’s a limit to how far you can push the “they were all 18” argument.
Given the potato quality such a tape would be, if it exists, he could claim its AI, and it would be extremely difficult to prove him wrong.
Also, I think supporting Ukraine is actually quite popular with his support base.
Smoke and mirrors. Trump talks tough talk. Putin says war is over. Trump stops Ukraine weapon flow. Russia keeps territory gained. Trump takes credit. Putin averts Russia economic collapse.
Except America aren’t the only ones supplying Ukraine with weapons and other aid, Europe is doing a lot too. Ukraine will keep fighting without the help of the US, which won’t be a good look for Trump.
There is one thing Trump has said that I wholeheartedly agree with, and it’s that the world relies too much on the US to back them up, and they need to do more to help themselves, and this is a classic example of why.
Pure speculation, but could Trump no longer be as beholden to Putin as he so clearly was in his first term? Musk seems to be holding his reins now, and maybe he realizes any Kompromat the Russians may have had just doesn’t matter any more in the face of his cult of personality.
That said, it seems to be in both parties best interest for Putin to get out of the war while Trump is in office. A president favorable to Russia gets a big win on the world stage, and Russia gets to quietly back out of a conflict that has been a complete disaster for them.
Except putin is holding musk’s reins.
Is he? The two have many shared interest sure, and maybe he has some dirt on Musk. I feel like if Putin was the “grand puppet master” he’s often made out to be then the war in Ukraine would be going much better for him. The article above seems to indicate that Putins influence has waned considerably since 2016.
SpaceX got started because the Russians were dicks to Musk and refused to launch satellites for him, and he’s taken a lot of business from them.
What makes you think they have anything on him?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/what-to-know-about-elon-musks-reported-phone-calls-with-putin-and-why-it-matters
I dont know. But why would he be getting personal calls from putin and followingnhis requests?
I certainly hope so.