The Former Presidency of Donald J. Trump, Volume XII: Nevertheless, NFTs!

He was hoping for a second term and even more weakening of western alliances.

Because Trump would get smashed in his 2020 re-election bid if he let it go so his response would be unpredictable. KISS, it’s a straightforward quid pro quo, doesn’t mean you can just rob the guy of the thing he wants most (to win re-election in this case).

Unfalsifiable, but the idea Putin would be happy exiting a first term with zero concrete results is absurd. Trump was hovering at just over 40% approval his whole term. The idea that Putin would be confident of a second term is ludicrous.

Again, the idea “there was a quid pro quo but not on anything actually important” is unfalsifiable, but also who gives a shit if it was true or not.

The idea that Putin didn’t get anything in the first term is absurd, as I and others have pointed out. NATO was at its weakest point in decades when Trump left office.

Who knows what bullshit the Trump campaign sold him on polling and whatnot and how much he believed? He believed his army could take Ukraine in a few days, and here we are.

It’s not unfalsiable, you agreed with the supposition that Putin engaged in a massive Trump lobbying operation and that Trump was susceptible to such an operation.

Who gives a shit? Well, people that don’t want Putin to accomplish his objectives.

Trump lobbied for the G7 to readmit Russia. Does the G7 still being the G7 and not the G8 mean that there were no concrete results to signal influence?

You don’t think there’s a strategic advantage for Russia if the US pulls out of a strategic treaty like that rather than Russia? Do you think Russia would prefer to have the US be a part of these treaties? Wtf, man.

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These are both correct. Trump can be working to benefit putin and be “influenced” by russian power/money without overcomplicating things by dreaming up pee tape kompromat type stuff. Trump has literally explained all of this explicitly, he has benefitted from russian financing, none of this is secret, he wants to do additional projects in russia, also not a secret, he has a throbbing boner for the type of person Putin is, also not a secret. Don’t overcomplicate it.

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I have no idea what you mean here. Russia is a part of these treaties because it thinks there is a benefit to Russia. It would therefore like the US to participate because otherwise the treaty is pointless.

Here is a Trump campaign release literally pointing to withdrawing from this treaty as a sign that Trump was tough on Russia:

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/campaign-press-release-fact-trump-has-been-tougher-russia-than-biden

YES

The treaty was signed in 1992, maybe Putin isn’t a fan. Hmm I wonder why he might not have wanted aerial surveillance of his country anymore?

Lol c’mon man. If they wanted out the best way for them would be getting the US to withdraw.

Oh, well, if Trump said it…

giphy

I will spell it out for everyone: Ukraine was a signatory, on top of a bunch of NATO powers.

A “concrete” example:

Putin’s Goal: Expand Russian influence in the Middle East. As Russia seeks to expand its global influence, it has paid special attention to increasing its presence in the Middle East. Russia has long backed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, putting Russian forces in conflict with the U.S.-backed opposition rebels.

Putin’s Payout: Trump decided to withdraw US troops from Syria, leaving room for Russia to exert further influence.

  • Trump’s decision will allow Russia to consolidate control over the region. Withdrawing US troops from Syria leaves Russia and Iran as the major power players in the conflict. One Russian political commentator noted that Putin’s goal was always “to establish himself as the global authority to prevent regime change,” and the absence of US troops leaves a vacuum that Putin will be eager to fill.
  • Trump’s insistence on moving forward with such a blatantly pro-Russia foreign policy move sparked Mattis’ resignation. The withdrawal announcement led to Defense Secretary Mattis’ resignation, and he noted in his resignation letter that Russia seeks to “shape a world consistent with [its] authoritarian model” and to “promote [its] own interests at the expense of [its] neighbors.”
  • Trump used Putin’s own excuse to withdraw troops. In December 2017, Putin declared victory over ISIS in Syria and announced a partial withdrawal of troops. This declaration was met with great skepticism from the US. A White House National Security Council spokeswoman called the declaration of victory “premature,” and Russian forces have since remained extremely active in Syria. In a strikingly similar statement, Trump credited his own decision to withdraw to the defeat of ISIS as well, agreeing with Putin over the US intelligence community, and his own party on the issue. Putin praised him for using the same reasoning, stating that he “generally agree[d]” with Trump’s evaluation of ISIS.
  • Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria sparked praise from Putin. Putin immediately praised the decision, as “correct,” restating the belief that US troops should have never been in Syria to begin with. Putin stated that unlike the Russian troops, US troops were never invited, and denounced US involvement in Syria as illegitimate.
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You said Russia left, now you’re saying Russia is still part of the treaty? I honestly don’t know, I was taking your word for it.

Regardless, Putin see the US as it’s biggest threat more or less, having the US pull out of a treaty that allows the US to fly surveillance missions over Russia is clearly a massive boon to Russia.

Literally in the space of one regional war, this forum has turned from “hey why does the military budget keep increasing?” to “we must maintain imperial proxy war everywhere on the planet otherwise it’s pro-Putin”.

I have no idea why Trump chose to withdraw forces from Syria, but if he was going to do anything to provoke the resignation of his Defense Secretary, that seems like incredibly weak shit to go with. Again, your argument here is “we relinquished control of Syria”.

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Votes aren’t bought unless you buy enough votes to actually pass something?

Chris are you an Aussie spy for Putin?

Either you’re trolling at this point or your understanding of this issue is weak at best. Attempting to mix in this forum’s political views also clouds the issue for no reason. Trump is not a progressive.

Trump ceded US influence and power, allowing Putin to take it, in the Middle East. If you can’t see why that’s a big deal then you don’t understand what we’re talking about.

This was not Trump being progressive lol

Russia withdrew from the treaty in response to the US withdrawing from it.

Russia could just withdraw from the treaty at any time and then shoot down flights over Russia. The US withdrew from the treaty for their own reasons.