Vladimir Putin Has a Plan for Destroying the West—and It Looks a Lot Like Donald Trump
Slate Cover Story
July 21 2016 9:50 AM
Putin’s Pupp
If the Russian president could design a candidate to undermine American interests—and advance his own—he’d look a lot like Donald Trump.
By Franklin Foer
On Wednesday, Donald Trump told the New York Times that he would not necessarily come to the aid of NATO states threatened by Russia and would make his decision to defend them from an attack after reviewing whether they “have fulfilled their obligations to us.” It was the latest statement from Trump that was likely greeted with delight in the Kremlin. Earlier this month, Franklin Foer wrote on the frightening ways in which Trump seems to be playing right into Vladimir Putin's plans for destabilizing the West.
Vladimir Putin has a plan for destroying the West—and that plan looks a lot like Donald Trump. Over the past decade, Russia has boosted right-wing populists across Europe. It loaned money to Marine Le Pen in France, well-documented transfusions of cash to keep her presidential campaign alive. Such largesse also wended its way to the former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, who profited “personally and handsomely” from Russian energy deals, as an American ambassador to Rome once put it. (Berlusconi also shared a 240-year-old bottle of Crimean wine with Putin and apparently makes ample use of a bed gifted to him by the Russian president.)
There’s a clear pattern: Putin runs stealth efforts on behalf of politicians who rail against the European Union and want to push away from NATO. He’s been a patron of Golden Dawn in Greece, Ataka in Bulgaria, and Jobbik in Hungary. Joe Biden warned about this effort last year in a speech at the Brookings Institution: “President Putin sees such political forces as useful tools to be manipulated, to create cracks in the European body politic which he can then exploit.” Ruptures that will likely multiply after Brexit—a campaign Russia’s many propaganda organs bombastically promoted.
The destruction of Europe is a grandiose objective; so is the weakening of the United States. Until recently, Putin has only focused glancing attention on American elections. Then along came the presumptive Republican nominee.
Donald Trump is like the Kremlin’s favored candidates, only more so. He celebrated the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU. He denounces NATO with feeling. He is also a great admirer of Vladimir Putin. Trump’s devotion to the Russian president has been portrayed as buffoonish enthusiasm for a fellow macho strongman. But Trump’s statements of praise amount to something closer to slavish devotion. In 2007, he praised Putin for “rebuilding Russia.” A year later he added, “He does his work well. Much better than our Bush.” When Putin ripped American exceptionalism in a New York Times op-ed in 2013, Trump called it “a masterpiece.” Despite ample evidence, Trump denies that Putin has assassinated his opponents: “In all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that.” In the event that such killings have transpired, they can be forgiven: “At least he’s a leader.” And not just any old head of state: “I will tell you that, in terms of leadership, he’s getting an A.”
Donald Trump is like the Kremlin’s favored candidates, only more so.
That’s a highly abridged sampling of Trump’s odes to Putin. Why wouldn’t the Russians offer him the same furtive assistance they’ve lavished on Le Pen, Berlusconi, and the rest? Indeed, according to Politico’s Michael Crowley, Russian propaganda has gone full throttle for Trump, using its Russia Today apparatus to thrash Hillary Clinton and hail the courage of Trump’s foreign policy. (Sample headline: “Trump Sparks NATO Debate: ‘Obsolete’ or ‘Tripwire That Could Lead to World War III.’ ”) Russian intelligence services hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers, purloining its opposition research files on Trump and just about everything else it could find. They also wormed their way into the computers of the Clinton Foundation, a breach reported by Bloomberg. And though it may be a mere coincidence, Trump’s inner circle is populated with advisers and operatives who have long careers advancing the interests of the Kremlin.
We shouldn’t overstate Putin’s efforts, which will hardly determine the outcome of the election. Still, we should think of the Trump campaign as the moral equivalent of Henry Wallace’s communist-infiltrated campaign for president in 1948, albeit less sincere and idealistic than that. A foreign power that wishes ill upon the United States has attached itself to a major presidential campaign.
There is more on the site.
This needs to be fully vetted.
George Will beliees there may be something to that.
Manafort and Putin are tight, there is no doubt about that.
George Will beliees there may be something to that.
_________________________________________________________________________
Do you mean "believes"?
Hard to tell since you can't spell.
OOOOOOHHHHHHHH. Ferrris Muler comes out of his cave to point out a typing error.
I am devastated. 😛
This is a funny thread.
Putin slaps Obama around like a puck on the playground so to divert from Obama's failures you makeup some Putin/Trump fantasy.
Same deal as the DNC email scandal.
Instead of commenting on the actual content of those emails the liberals, without any evidence, make up a conspiracy theory story the it is all about Russia trying to help Donald Trump.
Are the left-wingers, stuck with a criminal/liar nominee that desperate?
This is a funny thread.
Putin slaps Obama around like a puck on the playground so to divert from Obama's failures you makeup some Putin/Trump fantasy.
Same deal as the DNC email scandal.
Instead of commenting on the actual content of those emails the liberals, without any evidence, make up a conspiracy theory story the it is all about Russia trying to help Donald Trump.Are the left-wingers, stuck with a criminal/liar nominee that desperate?
Not at all.
Let's see, what could possibly be wrong with Russian oligarchs propping up Trump's campaign with money?
This is a funny thread.
Putin slaps Obama around like a puck on the playground so to divert from Obama's failures you makeup some Putin/Trump fantasy.
Same deal as the DNC email scandal.
Instead of commenting on the actual content of those emails the liberals, without any evidence, make up a conspiracy theory story the it is all about Russia trying to help Donald Trump.Are the left-wingers, stuck with a criminal/liar nominee that desperate?
Not at all.
Let's see, what could possibly be wrong with Russian oligarchs propping up Trump's campaign with money?
_________________________________________________________________________
What could be wrong?
Because it isn't true and you can't prove it.
Take the hint son: A claim with no evidence by a liberal liar is still a lie.
No go back to your remedial spelling homework.
i do not think it is just liberals asking questions about trump/putin.
and really what is there to say about the emails? the dem elites didn't back bernie and they got caught for something everyone knew.
same would be true it the rnc had its emails leaked
This is a funny thread.
Putin slaps Obama around like a puck on the playground so to divert from Obama's failures you makeup some Putin/Trump fantasy.
Same deal as the DNC email scandal.
Instead of commenting on the actual content of those emails the liberals, without any evidence, make up a conspiracy theory story the it is all about Russia trying to help Donald Trump.Are the left-wingers, stuck with a criminal/liar nominee that desperate?
It's only funny if you haven't read the article. If you had read the article you would agree that most readers would be terrified about the contents. Do you have any comments about the actual article?
Since you seem to want to promote the commies you might be happier in Russia. That way you would be closer to your hero Putin.
Marshall’s column is more ambitious in its allegations:
At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties. There is also something between a non-trivial and a substantial amount of evidence suggesting Putin-backed financial support for Trump or a non-tacit alliance between the two men.
Indeed, as Cheryl Rofer and Franklin Foer have documented suggestive links between members of Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government. Then there are the financial interconnections between Trump’s business and Russia. Last month the Post wrote about the Trump family’s dependence on Russian finance and interest in Russian projects. And it is no secret that the Russian government has deployed a variety of tactics to influence Western democracies ranging from disinformation campaigns to troll armies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/25/is-donald-trump-a-putin-patsy/?tid=a_inl
i do not think it is just liberals asking questions about trump/putin.
and really what is there to say about the emails? the dem elites didn't back bernie and they got caught for something everyone knew.
same would be true it the rnc had its emails leaked
__________________________________________________________________________
The only people taking about the Putin/Trump myth are liberals.
You for got to mention the fund raising corruption and anti-Semitic emails?
Same would be true about RNC emails?
That is your assumption with no basis in fact.
The big difference between the RNC and the DNC is that in the Republican primary the voters decided their nominee and the RNC stayed out of it.
In the Democrat Primary the fix was in from the beginning and the DNC actively worked against Bernie Sanders.
And worse, the liberals know it and just roll over and will vote for the criminal liar.
It seems that Pence and the GOP are distancing themselves from Trump. Pence is a patriot and he should be the GOP candidate.
Trump said that he hoped the hackers had also accessed Clinton’s private email servers. “They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted.”
Trump then addressed the rogue nation directly, saying “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 33,000 emails that are missing.”
By actively hoping that American servers were hacked by another nation, Trump broke an unwritten but cardinal rule of American public office: You don’t root against the United States, even when your political opponent is in power.
Regardless of party or platform, American public officials are expected to champion U.S. interests and defend U.S. national security. Trump seemed to do the opposite Wednesday.
Within moments of Trump’s press conference, his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), released a statement on Trump’s website distancing himself from the nominee’s words. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” Pence said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5798d1c8e4b02d5d5ed3b51a
Obama told Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev he could be more flexible after the 2012 election. It was caught on an open mic.
I bet the people of the Ukraine don't like Obama all that much at this point. Obama did nothing in Syria and Putin stepped right in to back Assad. He was flexible all right.
i do not think it is just liberals asking questions about trump/putin.
and really what is there to say about the emails? the dem elites didn't back bernie and they got caught for something everyone knew.
same would be true it the rnc had its emails leaked
__________________________________________________________________________
The only people taking about the Putin/Trump myth are liberals.
You for got to mention the fund raising corruption and anti-Semitic emails?
Same would be true about RNC emails?
That is your assumption with no basis in fact.The big difference between the RNC and the DNC is that in the Republican primary the voters decided their nominee and the RNC stayed out of it.
In the Democrat Primary the fix was in from the beginning and the DNC actively worked against Bernie Sanders.And worse, the liberals know it and just roll over and will vote for the criminal liar.
The only people taking about the Putin/Trump myth are liberals.
that isn't true, you are using that broad brush again.
You for got to mention the fund raising corruption and anti-Semitic emails?
conservatives are not immune to this either.
That is your assumption with no basis in fact.
yes it is an assumption, but its not that far of a stretch.
The big difference between the RNC and the DNC is that in the Republican primary the voters decided their nominee and the RNC stayed out of it.
In the Democrat Primary the fix was in from the beginning and the DNC actively worked against Bernie Sanders.
somewhat factual , some fantasy and mostly opinion
And worse, the liberals know it and just roll over and will vote for the criminal liar.
100% opinion
It seems that Pence and the GOP are distancing themselves from Trump. Pence is a patriot and he should be the GOP candidate.
Trump said that he hoped the hackers had also accessed Clinton’s private email servers. “They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted.”
Trump then addressed the rogue nation directly, saying “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 33,000 emails that are missing.”
By actively hoping that American servers were hacked by another nation, Trump broke an unwritten but cardinal rule of American public office: You don’t root against the United States, even when your political opponent is in power.
Regardless of party or platform, American public officials are expected to champion U.S. interests and defend U.S. national security. Trump seemed to do the opposite Wednesday.
Within moments of Trump’s press conference, his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), released a statement on Trump’s website distancing himself from the nominee’s words. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” Pence said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5798d1c8e4b02d5d5ed3b51a
Trump doesn't need to get elected to be a yuge disaster, he's already there.
Can anyone take Hillary out of the equation and make a compelling standalone case that this fraud should be POTUS? Anyone? Bueller?
The only people taking about the Putin/Trump myth are liberals.
Wrong again, son. Unless youi are going to suggest that right-leaning outlets and people like Foreign Policy Magazine, RedState.com, FOX News, George Will, Newsweek, etc. are all now liberals...
"The Kremlin is clearly happy to see a Republican candidate who preaches disbanding NATO (or throwing it into debtors prison) and advocates an American retreat from the world stage. If America retreats, Russia advances, nipping at its heels. See, for example, Syria. If America’s role in the world shrinks, Russia’s role in the world grows. This is how Putin sees it. Russia will get stronger because America will get weaker. This is why he is overtly throwing in for Trump, who has also lavishly complimented him." - Foreign Policy Magazine
Why George Will Might Be Right About Vladimir Putin’s Hold Over Donald Trump:
http://www.redstate.com/streiff/2016/07/26/george-will-might-right-vladimir-putins-hold-donald-trump-video/
Russian ties: Ex-intel official says evidence on hacked DNC servers points to nation state
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/07/26/russian-ties-ex-intel-official-says-evidence-on-hacked-dnc-servers-points-to-nation-state.html
Does Donald Trump Have a Subversive Partnership With Vladimir Putin’s Propaganda Machine?
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-propaganda-ukraine-crimea-nato-2016-election-482924
Fox News contributor George Will says GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump will not release his tax returns because they may show "he is deeply involved in dealing with Russia oligarchs."
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/289241-george-will-raises-possible-trump-link-to-russian-oligarchs
Obama told Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev he could be more flexible after the 2012 election. It was caught on an open mic.
I bet the people of the Ukraine don't like Obama all that much at this point. Obama did nothing in Syria and Putin stepped right in to back Assad. He was flexible all right.
What does this have to do with Trump?
Wait, I'll answer that for you...NOT A F*CKING THING!
It seems that Pence and the GOP are distancing themselves from Trump. Pence is a patriot and he should be the GOP candidate.
Trump said that he hoped the hackers had also accessed Clinton’s private email servers. “They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted.”
Trump then addressed the rogue nation directly, saying “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 33,000 emails that are missing.”
By actively hoping that American servers were hacked by another nation, Trump broke an unwritten but cardinal rule of American public office: You don’t root against the United States, even when your political opponent is in power.
Regardless of party or platform, American public officials are expected to champion U.S. interests and defend U.S. national security. Trump seemed to do the opposite Wednesday.
Within moments of Trump’s press conference, his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), released a statement on Trump’s website distancing himself from the nominee’s words. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” Pence said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5798d1c8e4b02d5d5ed3b51a
Trump doesn't need to get elected to be a yuge disaster, he's already there.
Can anyone take Hillary out of the equation and make a compelling standalone case that this fraud should be POTUS? Anyone? Bueller?
I am not sure if you are referencing that article but it states that Trump violated a sacred rule of US politics by supporting Russia and attacking the US. Pence immediately posted his and the GOP position and it does not support Trump. I imagine the more that Trump gets caught supporting Russia the sooner it will be that there will be some kind of reaction that will take him out. That is just optimistic speculation but it is a possibility.
Trump encouraging Russia to hack America - no big deal.
Obama told Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev he could be more flexible after the 2012 election. It was caught on an open mic.
I bet the people of the Ukraine don't like Obama all that much at this point. Obama did nothing in Syria and Putin stepped right in to back Assad. He was flexible all right.
What does this have to do with Trump?
Wait, I'll answer that for you...NOT A F*CKING THING!
You're right Trump had nothing to do with the leaked emails but you lefties try to spin it that he did anyways. Don't you get dizzy with all the spinning? It's been this administrations policies that have emboldened Russia and you want a continuation.
You think Trump and Putin are working together? Putin wants Hillary. He saw what a disaster her foreign policy was. He'd love a continuation of current policy. If anybody helped Putin it was Hillary. Check this out. Facilitating a deal for personal gain.
Obama told Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev he could be more flexible after the 2012 election. It was caught on an open mic.
I bet the people of the Ukraine don't like Obama all that much at this point. Obama did nothing in Syria and Putin stepped right in to back Assad. He was flexible all right.
What does this have to do with Trump?
Wait, I'll answer that for you...NOT A F*CKING THING!
You're right Trump had nothing to do with the leaked emails but you lefties try to spin it that he did anyways. Don't you get dizzy with all the spinning? It's been this administrations policies that have emboldened Russia and you want a continuation.
You think Trump and Putin are working together? Putin wants Hillary. He saw what a disaster her foreign policy was. He'd love a continuation of current policy. If anybody helped Putin it was Hillary. Check this out. Facilitating a deal for personal gain.
You mean like when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008? Yeah Bush and Cheney had such a forceful response.
It looks like Russia hired internet trolls to pose as pro-Trump Americans
Russia's troll factories were, at one point, likely being paid by the Kremlin to spread pro-Trump propaganda on social media.
Adrian Chen, now a staff writer at The New Yorker, discovered as he was researching Russia's "army of well-paid trolls" for an explosive New York Times Magazine exposé published in June 2015.
"A very interesting thing happened," Chen told Longform's Max Linsky in a podcast in December.
"I created this list of Russian trolls when I was researching. And I check on it once in a while, still. And a lot of them have turned into conservative accounts, like fake conservatives. I don't know what's going on, but they're all tweeting about Donald Trump and stuff," he said.
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-internet-trolls-and-donald-trump-2016-7
Obama told Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev he could be more flexible after the 2012 election. It was caught on an open mic.
I bet the people of the Ukraine don't like Obama all that much at this point. Obama did nothing in Syria and Putin stepped right in to back Assad. He was flexible all right.
What does this have to do with Trump?
Wait, I'll answer that for you...NOT A F*CKING THING!
You're right Trump had nothing to do with the leaked emails but you lefties try to spin it that he did anyways. Don't you get dizzy with all the spinning? It's been this administrations policies that have emboldened Russia and you want a continuation.
You think Trump and Putin are working together? Putin wants Hillary. He saw what a disaster her foreign policy was. He'd love a continuation of current policy. If anybody helped Putin it was Hillary. Check this out. Facilitating a deal for personal gain.
You mean like when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008? Yeah Bush and Cheney had such a forceful response.
I thought I was talking about who Putin would prefer not what Bush did 8 years ago. What do you think of the uranium deal? I didn't vote for Bush either time and I voted for Obama in 2008 so say what you will about Dubya.
Putin loves Trumps ideology and his crazy foreign policy plans. He has no fear of Trump and thinks he can be a huge assist to him and his endeavors in Europe. He wants no part of Clinton in the White House. He wants his not so secret admirer to win.
Trump encouraging Russia to hack America - no big deal.
They don't need much encouragement.
Trump encouraging Russia to hack America - no big deal.
They don't need much encouragement.
We don't need a guy who wants to be president asking them to do it. Or for his moronic followers to think it is a good idea.
You're right Trump had nothing to do with the leaked emails but you lefties try to spin it that he did anyways. Don't you get dizzy with all the spinning? It's been this administrations policies that have emboldened Russia and you want a continuation.
You think Trump and Putin are working together? Putin wants Hillary. He saw what a disaster her foreign policy was. He'd love a continuation of current policy. If anybody helped Putin it was Hillary. Check this out. Facilitating a deal for personal gain.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3052220/Clinton-Foundation-accepted -millions-undeclared-donations-nuclear-company-tied-Russia-Hillary-signed-s elling-one-fifth-s-uranium.html
One can objectively state--and there is solid proof of this--that Trump basically spins full time and very little of what he says holds up to scrutiny.
The Russian/Clinton relationship on the uranium mine deal looks sleazy. The most obvious question is what is a charitable foundation doing getting involved in a uranium mining deal? Does this deal complicate Clinton's future dealings with Russia? Maybe, maybe not. My understanding is that the foundation will go on hiatus for any Clinton term and Bill Clinton's role at the WH will be minimal.
Trump and his advisors have similar connections to Russia. Putin though has very strategic interests in Europe and it is in this area that Trump, on the basis of his rhetoric and what he claims will be his future policies to NATO and the EU should be become president, is more important than Clinton to Russian expansionism. Trump has decided to create his own policy to Putin and Russia and it conflicts dramatically with current US policy. This is what has gotten him in trouble. It is a FU he himself has created and there is no other way to look at it.
Trump encouraging Russia to hack America - no big deal.
They don't need much encouragement.
Besides, Trump's already made a secret deal to reward them when they do.
