"Please, Vlad! Yuh played me for a fool in Helsinki, don't do it again!"
The last time we were in Anchorage, Alaska - a totally cool place (no pun intended) - we spent several days sightseeing, ensconced at the Westmark hotel before going on to Fairbanks. The last night was with my nephew (now deceased), Damien, and we shared brewskies at the Glacier Brew House downtown, e.g.
And hey, it helps to regain perspective by recalling some past history - in spite of all Dotard's power grabs in the lower 48:
Recall that during a joint news conference at a summit in Helsinki in July 2018, Trump appeared to accept Putin’s denials of interference in the 2016 presidential election, raising eyebrows among U.S. lawmakers and intelligence officials. The FBI had agreed with a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the election to help Trump win. Indeed, Clint Watts, a former FBI agent, writes in his book, “Messing with the Enemy,” that “Russia absolutely influenced the U.S. presidential election,” especially in Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump’s winning margin was less than 1 percent in each state.
Let's also recall The Espionage Act was used to put former AF officer Reality Winner in a federal slammer for 5+ years for leaking docs pertaining to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. If there was no "there, there" why did Reality get locked up? The simplest explanation is she leaked docs not only leaking smoke but fire too.
The two leaders appeared to share warm interactions at the summit. They spent their first two hours speaking alone, joined only by their interpreters, and Trump was seen winking at Putin at least twice during their various meetings.
George Will's subsequent article appearing in the July 22nd (Sunday) Denver Post ('Perspective', p. 5D, 'Why The 'America First
President Put America Last in Helsinki')) said it in a nutshell. It
basically put the Helsinki debacle in somber perspective.. As Will wrote:
"America's child president had a play date with a KGB
alumnus, who surely enjoyed providing daycare. It was a useful, illuminating
event: Because we shall now see how many Republicans retain a capacity for
embarrassment."
Will adding:
"In Helsinki the president who bandies the phrase
'America First', put himself first - as always- and America last, behind
Vladimir Putin's regime."
Of course, most of us who are sane and still in contact with
objective reality know what he did next: he again tried to deny anything amiss,
but then in the next breath - invited Putin over for another "summit"
just before the midterms. Then a day later we were informed the Putin fall
meet was "pushed back" until 2020 with the spin Dotard controlled
the timing.
But as security specialist Malcolm Nance pointed out on Lawrence O Donnell’s 'Last Word': "It was just Putin giving Trump a thumb in the eye, after leading him around with a nose ring in Helsinki."
Fast forward to just months after the Mueller report’s release, in 2019, Trump and Putin appeared friendly once again during brief remarks at a
G-20 summit in Osaka. Putin said the two had not formally met since the summit
in Helsinki and said their bilateral meeting would be a “great opportunity to
follow up on that.”
Asked about the investigation by reporters in the room, Trump
seemed to make light of it, telling Putin with a grin, “Don’t meddle in the
election.”
Look, as other commentators (e.g. Max Boot of the WaPo, Masha Gessen of NY Times) note, Putin secures a huge win just being in the same room with Trump. Add pushing him around to accept Vlad's terms on Ukraine and it becomes a literal 'wipe the floor with him' blowout. As the relevant WSJ article ('Russia Sees U.S. Talks As A Win', 8/12, p. A1) puts it:
"The very fact of the summit with Trump- and in the U.S. no less - is already a win for Putin, helping to restore the international standing of a man treated as a pariah in much of the West and facing an arrest warrant on war crimes charges from the International Criminal Court in The Hague."
But, will his being provided a special (safe) stage in the U.S. for a summit with Trump mellow his demands? Not likely. As the WSJ piece goes on to note:
"But when it comes to Ukraine there is little indication that Putin intends to make a meaningful compromise. The Russian president's offer as relayed by Steve Witkoff, is a ceasefire if Kyiv agrees to give up territory."
How can he be so brash, so bold? Well because Trump has already shown weakness:
"Trump has let his self-imposed deadline for sanctions against Russia lapse ahead of the summit, a move European diplomats fear signals to Russia that no further U.S. pressure will be placed on the Kremlin."
In other words, let the Russian drones and missiles continue to wreak havoc on Ukrainian cities and waste lives. Bringing Zelenskyy in for further talks? Purely bunkum and beer talk. Even the WSJ's same day editorial ('The Putin Stakes for Trump', p. A14, hints at the futility expected from wannabe Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dotard;:
"Trump wants to be known as a peacemaker, especially in Ukraine. But peace is easy to reach if you concede what an aggressor wants."
And make no mistake Putin is and will be the aggressor. Even worse, Dotard goes into the meet seriously handicapped without the sage advice of the primary Russian specialists, who were cut for cost saving months ago.
Yes, as the WSJ notes, "Trump may want to increase the economic pressure or play other cards." Trouble is that Putin holds the ultimate 'Trump' card and we all know which one that is.
See Also:
What to know about Trump and Putin’s summit in Alaska - The Washington Post
Excerpt:
“Putin’s visit to the U.S.A. means the total collapse of the
whole concept of isolating Russia. Total collapse,” Kremlin-controlled
television crowed after news of the hastily arranged summit broke last weekend.
For Russia, “this is a breakthrough even if they don’t agree
on much,” said Sergei Mikheyev, a pro-war Russian political scientist who is a
mainstay of state television.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, iced out of the
Alaska talks about his own country’s future, has come to the same conclusion,
telling reporters on Tuesday: “Putin will win in this. Because he is seeking,
excuse me, photos. He needs a photo from the meeting with President Trump.”
But it is more than a photo op. In addition to thawing
Russia’s pariah status in the West, the summit has sowed discord within NATO —
a perennial Russian goal — and postponed Mr. Trump’s threat of tough new
sanctions.
And:
by Thom Hartmann | August 15, 2025 - 5:20am | permalink
This is what happens when cynical, greedy, amoral billionaires and psychopaths run a country.
The Times of London (Murdoch-owned) is reporting that billionaire Steve Witkoff, billionaire Donald Trump, and billionaire Vladimir Putin have worked out a model behind the scenes to solve the Ukraine problem: just make it like Gaza.
They’re planning, according to this reporting, to fully respect the borders of Ukraine and the country’s sovereignty, but with one catch. Just like Israel did with Gaza, Ukraine can “self-govern” but all political and economic decisions will be made or approved by Moscow, all funds flowing through Moscow, just like the governments of Gaza and the West Bank are subservient to the whims of Netanyahu and the Israeli Knesset.
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