WaPo: When did Trump develop fealty to Russia, & why does it persist after their cyber attack?

[bigtree]

Joy Reid ?@JoyAnnReid 10h10 hours ago
When did Trump develop this fealty to Russia & why does it persist in the face of a cyber attack on his own country? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-refuses-to-face-reality-about-russia/2016/12/30/5a69d692-ceb7-11e6-a747-d03044780a02_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.6713f32fc382 …

[kentuck]

1. During the campaign...

He said he didn't even know Mr Putin??

[Equinox Moon]

14. Good point!

[otohara]

20. October A Tweet of His

CLINTON'S CLOSE TIES TO PUTIN DESERVE SCRUTINY #VPDEBATE

Unfuckingbelivable

[nini]

28. well he always projects

so that's practically an admission of his BS

[uponit7771]

39. +1, Trump defend Russia and Putin like a man defends a lover or a REALLY REALLY long time friend...

... this isn't a casual relationship

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Just guessing, but why not assume Putin invested in a US President and...

wants to see his investment grow.

If a money trail ever shows up, the show will be spectacular

[sarah FAILIN]

26. the money trail is there, just a little muddy

It all has to do with Deutsche Bank which is tied to the Russians and also Soros who has directly financed Trump. Happens to be the only bank that will finance the con man. Read this article and think what Trump could be doing if they were funneling money from Russia to Trump.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-tim-wiswell-deutsche-bank/

[Cha]

3. Excellent questions, Joy Ann!

trump cancelled the WaPo's press credentials.. I expect to see a lot of this kind of reporting from them.

Mahalo, bigtree~ Here's hoping we get to the bottom of the mutual admiration society between dump and putin.

Like seeing dump's tax returns.

[Cracklin Charlie]

4. Now we're talkin'!

[bigtree]

8. I'm amazed at the brazenness

...and just a bit apprehensive about the potential ability of Trump to align U.S. interests with Russia's, at least where Executive authority is concerned.

[Cha]

9. It's surreal.. and just exactly what is trump getting

out of it? Not to be blackmailed? Better business deals?

[bigtree]

13. maybe he just doesn't support American interests

...as much as he supports Russia's and Putin's.

As others on this thread and elsewhere have noted, there are very likely financial reasons for Trump's support of Putin, but I might go even further than debt. A report today identifies over 50 countries with Trump business interests. I daresay, that is motivation enough for him to resist or seek to overturn U.S. policy which runs counter to his financial interests.

He's shown nothing but contempt for the U.S. government, and he's all but declared that he intends to overthrow it - or at least, bend it toward his narrow, personal agenda.

[Cha]

15. Makes sense.. I hate this.

[underpants]

5. He owes Russians a lot of money

That's why there was no tax returns.

[panader0]

7. This

[Cha]

10. That's what I was thinking

[tecelote]

11. Yup

[bucolic_frolic]

17. Pay them off with America's assets

oil, gas, timber, coal, water

Cash, check, or credit card?

Maybe even Forex arbitrage

[WestCoastDem42]

27. Yep!

It would all be revealed in the tax returns.

[retrowire]

6. Lololol

Because he's no patriot.

[spanone]

12. i think it was quid pro quo. work with us, we'll help you win the election.

general flynn

paul manafort

[mtngirl47]

25. Last night on CNN one of his surrogates

stated that he was getting "intelligence" reports daily from Flynn. WTF! My follow-up would have been to ask why the middleman with the Russian ties?

[mopinko]

31. i think so too. paul manafort. say it w me.

how long has he lived in the tower? how much did he (over)pay for his unit? whose money was it?

manafort is the key here. i think he was sent to turn him.

pootie let way too much hang out here for someone he was just hoping would be nice to him. they own him.

imho, money is not enough for that kind of loyalty. he is being blackmailed.

[elmac]

16. So sniffles is supposed to have a crappy corporate credit score

so crappy that he can no longer get US bank financing so I'm betting that he's being propped up by putins billions. Another reason he refuses to release his tax records.

[Me.]

18. I Believe

He as been groomed as an asset. Just don't know if he knows it.

[Takket]

19. Trump is such a megalomaniac and narcissist

I literally think his brain cannot process the possibility that anything other than his own greatness made him president. That's why he doesn't believe in Russia or comey.

[malthaussen]

21. Perhaps there is a faction within the GOP...

... that seeks to align with Russia against China. Meanwhile, Mr Putin makes nice with China and sells his love to the highest bidder... one who, perhaps, will look the other way as he reconstitutes the Greater Russian Empire.

Among other gains Mr Putin has made in that direction is establishing a permanent Russian presence in the Middle East. One that goes beyond merely employing proxy states in a game of King of the Hill.

While the fascists certainly want to preserve China as both a fertile market and source of cheap labor, they don't want them encroaching on the South China Sea or making other threats in East Asia. If Mr Nixon used China as a counterweight to the USSR, now that they have begun feeling their oats, it might be thought in some circles to be prudent to use Russia as a counterweight to China.

And Russia may have nukes and a relatively strong military, but economically they are no powerhouse. As Jerry Brown likes to point out, California's economy is twice as strong as Russia's.

-- Mal

[world wide wally]

22. Trump is a fucking basket case. Our REAL problem is the bigotry and stupidity of

altogether too many Americans.
I am personally not even interested in reaching out to these people. I think it would be far more productive if we just get more people to vote and eliminate as much voter suppression as possible.
If by any chance Putin hasn't owned Trump all along, he certainly owns him now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. He's admired foreign authoritarians for 25 years or more

....What were your [] impressions of the Soviet Union?
I was very unimpressed....Russia is out of control and the leadership knows it. That's my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand.

You mean firm hand as in China?
When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ... as being spit on by the rest of the world—

So after eight years of Ronald Reagan, within weeks of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Trump is convinced that America is perceived as weak. I guess in Trumpland, America is always weak. Too bad we're not more like the Chinese at Tiananmen Square. Sure, they almost blew it, but in the end they did what they had to do. I guess they would have known what to do with those Occupy hippies and all the Mexicans flooding into the country too.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/donald-trump-chinese-sure-knew-how-display-toughness-tiananmen-square

[MountainFool]

24. there is no mystery here ...

Nothing to see here, move along.

Anyone that has been paying attention isn't surprised in the least.

[lanlady]

29. "His enthusiasm cannot be easily explained?

Huh? Sure it can. He owes Russians a ton of money, and their intelligence services have collected kompromat on him - financial and/or sexual most likely. There you go, Washington Post, that wasn't so hard to explain after all.

[packman]

30. Agree - Money #1, Sex #2

They hooked him when he was nearly bankrupt with easy money and knowing his weakness of character got him with Russian gov. approved sex.

[stonecutter357]

32. putin has a video of trump doing trump shit?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. A couple of years ago one of Trump's sons, Uday or Qusay,

I don't remember which, commented (bragged) that "we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." Oh, really? I'm more and more convinced that Trump's fondness for Putin, if that's what you want to call it, arises from the fact that the Russian oligarchs have been funding Trump's businesses because nobody else will. He can't get loans from any bank in the U.S., and there are many records of Trump companies doing business in Russia - so where is the financing coming from?

At this point he probably owes the Russians so much money that there's no way he can pay it off. It's worse than owing money to loan sharks working for the mob. You don't pay and Guido and Vinnie and maybe a guy nicknamed Icepick show up and break your kneecaps, except these goons are named Yuri and Vlad and кинжал. And they won't break his kneecaps; they'll do something much worse: they'll call the loans and reveal to the world that Trump's net worth is less than zero.

And what is the most important thing in the whole world to Trump? His wealth, or the appearance of it. Money is the way Trump values people, which he has made abundantly clear by his cabinet picks. He didn't choose them because of their qualifications but because of their wealth; he specifically said "I want people who have made a fortune." Money is also, and especially, the source of his own value to himself. He's nothing without it. He uses it to "prove" his excellence to the world. Putin, and probably everybody else with two neurons to rub together, has certainly figured this out, and he's using the Russian loans to blackmail and control Trump. "Comrade Donald, you have nice little businesses here. Would be shame if something happened to them, nyet? Would be bigger shame if world knows you are broke..." He quite literally owns him.

[barbtries]

34. they're 2 peas in a pod.

i do not doubt that drumpf longs to be the strong man, ruling the press, making war wherever he feels like it, and plundering the nation's wealth at will. he is so sick. so sick.

there must be a way to rid this blight.

this bit by Rachel Maddow is enlightening, frightening, and very informative in my opinion regarding what drumpf has planned for the USA

long but well worth it.

[blue cat]

35. My personal opinion

Is that they have some horrible video of him with an underage girl.

[stonecutter357]

36. +1000

[Bradical79]

38. Yeah, I've heard that rumor

and I remember that article with the photographer making claims about the sex club. I wouldn't be shocked if that were the case.

[Bradical79]

37. I can think of a few explanations

1. They have something on him so bad even his stupid base couldn't ignore.
2. It's just how he does buisiness. He sucks up to powerful people, then turns on them if convenient to some goal of his.
3. He really is just that easy to manipulate. His past trip to Russia showed how much he wanted to be in the evil oligarchs club, so maybe now that moron really thinks Putin is his buddy.

[Vinca]

40. I think Pootie owns him.