[diydsp]

Ive done a lot of analysis on the Trump as Putin agent topic. I found he nearly as often acts agents Russia as with. What's more likely is he treats Putin as an inspiration, wrt to converting the country to an oligarchy and offshoring national funds for himself.

[Sharlin]

Yeah. The idea that he's a Russian asset, although tempting, has always seemed to me like a coping mechanism of sorts – externalizing the evil, like blaming the devil for one's bad deeds.

And, of course, Hanlon's razor is very much relevant here, although certainly it doesn't apply to everybody in Trump's inner circle. Some of them are very much competent and malevolent.

[lobsterthief]

Why not both?

[enaaem]

I found Vlad Vexler’s take interesting. Trump has a narcissistic personality disorder. Not a narcissistic trait that many elites have, but an actual disorder. He looks up to Putin and wants to bask in Putin’s glory to elevate himself.

[1] https://open.substack.com/pub/vladvexler/p/we-need-to-talk-a...

[quakeguy]

*acts against

[bryanrasmussen]

is the acting against Russia and against American interest, in a way that helps Russian interests, of equivocal effect?

For example if I shoot Batman in the back when he's fighting The Joker (because Batman is a vigilante so that's illegal, gotta take him down), and later make a statement to the press after Joker has been sent to Arkham "You know I think Arkham is a good place for that guy, he got what he deserved", I have acted for and against The Joker's interest, which is a good cover for me as an agent of The Joker.

I have often seen Trump doing stuff that is counter Russia's interests, but stuff that seems extremely weak sauce in contrast to weakening Nato, as just one example. It is spycraft 101 that you give your assets some simple stuff they can do against you, to make them seem trustworthy.

[sigmoid10]

Curious. Can you name a few instances where he intentionally acted against Russia and did not just throw around words without following them up?

[whodidntante]

He is an equal opportunity a-hole, though my personal feeling is that he looks up to Putin, and wants to be like him

Some things he has done that Putin is probably not fond of:

Javelins in his first term, I believe that was the time the us supplied military weapons to Ukraine. These weapons made a big impact during the invasion

Tried to get Europe off of Russia gas, making very public warnings about depending on Russia. This was first term

Tried to get Europe to invest heavily in thru military, first and second term

Syria, Iran and Venezuela, all allies of Russia, especially Iran for military technology and Venezuela as part of its shadow fleet.

Sanctions

[dboreham]

Wrong. Never actually acts against Putin interests. Blusters a bit, for sure, but never acts.