By Dan K Community Daily Kos Dictator-elect Trump claims he warned Putin against ramping up the fighting in Ukraine: Trump talked to Putin, told Russian leader not to escalate in Ukraine
During the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington’s sizable military presence in Europe, said a person familiar with the call, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
But did he really? Did he even speak to Putin at all? As of this morning, the Kremlin is denying it: Kremlin spokesman claims Putin-Trump call did not occur:
The Kremlin denial of the call came amid nervousness in Moscow over whether Trump would stick to his pre-election campaign rhetoric and seek to restore relations with Russia and bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Why would Putin deny it? Well, to start with, the report that Trump mentioned our troops in Europe did not sit well with him:
Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter of Putin’s and political analyst, suggested the Kremlin did not like the phrase about U.S. troops in Europe.
“It looks like Trump is threatening Putin. If Russia now agrees to Trump’s proposal at least partially, it will turn out that he did so under pressure,” said Gallyamov, who lives in Israel after being branded a foreign agent by Russia. “Putin is very concerned with appearances and wants to look like the master of the situation, and not the one who is being threatened.”
Because Trump hasn’t signed the necessary conflict-of-interest papers required — by law, not that Trump cares about law — to start the transition process, his call, if it was made, was done without any assistance from the State Department. Which among other things means there was no expert diplomatic advice and no record of the call.
I think Trump either did say that to Putin, or he put that out for US domestic consumption to show his voters that he is the tough guy here. Either way, Putin was not pleased and reminded Trump who is really running the show here.
The phone call, or at least the announcement of the phone call, was on Thursday. On Friday, Russian TV posted nude photos of Melania. From Newsweek: Russian State TV Airs Melania Trump's Nudes on Prime Time
On the show 60 minutes, Russian television presenters, husband and wife Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeyeva, spoke about Donald Trump's reelection and showed numerous photos from Melania Trump's modeling days on screen, including nude photographs from a GQ profile in 2000.
Julia Davis, founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog group, posted video of the broadcast alongside the caption: "Meanwhile in Russia: this is how the most watched state TV channel in the country welcomed Melania Trump's upcoming return to the White House. Olga Skabeeva is trying not to laugh. This was probably her idea."
(No, it was Putin’s idea.) After giving the photos a couple of days to sink in, Putin then had his spokesman deny the phone call ever took place, just in case Trump was too dense (and he probably is) to get the point the first time.
Interesting side note: I have not found any US media other than Newsweek that ran the nude photo story. Overseas media, however, are running with it. The Sun (which has its own history of scandalous photos) was scandalized: SICK STUNT Melania Trump’s nude pics on Russian TV spark outrage as state media broadcasts photos after Donald wins re-election. Also The Mirror: Melania Trump's nude pics aired on prime time Russian TV show sparking outrage. Katie Livingstone, an American journalist who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2022, wrote in today’s Kyiv Post: ANALYSIS: Kremlin Power Games Begin: Exposing Melania Nude Photos on State TV
Sharing Melania’s old photos in the popular show was meant to be an obvious slight to the president-elect that spells out the power dynamic of the US-Russia relationship – or at least how Putin would like it to be. The Russian leader has used misogynistic attacks and rhetoric for decades to demean his enemies and bolster his supporters.
Now the Kremlin is using Melania to make Trump understand that Russia has power in many forms, and is not afraid to personally attack the president-elect to achieve its aims. Putin is attempting to set the stage to welcome his ally back into the White House on Russian terms. Trump has not publicly responded to the situation.
It had seemed a little early for Putin to so publicly remind Trump who is boss. My reading is that Trump, who as usual has no impulse control and no concept of diplomacy, thought he could score a few points either by actually telling Putin not to go too far or to boast that he had. The new photos a gentle — for Putin — way of reminding him just who is really in charge here. This morning’s denial that the phone call ever happened at all is the follow-up.
Putin is a master manipulator with decades of experience. Trump has decades of experience at being manipulated without even realizing it. He never had a chance. Maybe now he’ll get it; so far, there has been no reported response from his office about the Melania photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment