Well, it didn’t take long for Putin to let Donald know who’s really the boss. Three days after the election was called, Russian state TV congratulated Melania Trump on her husband’s reelection… by airing nude photos of her on Russian state TV.
Hubba Hubba. See video below.
Trump has been falling all over himself to demonstrate his willingness to do Vladimir’s bidding. He’s nominated Tulsi Gabbard, a suspected Russian intelligence asset, as Director of National Intelligence, where she would be gatekeeper to the nation’s deepest secrets. Russian TV has referred to Gabbard as “our girlfriend Tulsi” and, hey, who could blame them?
Abigail Spanberger is a former CIA officer who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. So, having access to secret intelligence, she really knows what she’s talking about. Spanberger has said that “Someone who has aligned herself with Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad and trafficked in Russian-backed conspiracy theories is an unsuitable and potentially dangerous selection. The objections to her nomination transcend partisan politics. This is a matter of national security.”
But it doesn’t end there when it comes to Trump’s fealty to Putin. Trump has repeatedly refused to pledge support to Ukraine, claiming that if elected, he’d “end the war in a day.” Presumably that could only happen by signaling Ukraine’s total capitulation to Putin, who has now amassed 50,000 troops in preparation for an assault, an estimated 10,000 of those troops having been supplied by North Korea.
But this is all just what’s happened recently. Trump’s bromance with Putin is common knowledge and has gone on in plain sight for a decade now; there’s nothing new about that.
Trump has shown he has the ability to do one thing well and one thing only: con people. Otherwise, all he can do is cause problems. Trump has never solved a real problem in his life.
But what is new is Trump’s regaining the White House, this time with a GOP-controlled House, GOP-controlled Senate and totally compliant Supreme Court. There is no one to stand in his way. Trump has shown zero respect for the law and for Constitutional norms; he has set himself up to be an absolute dictator, and by all accounts he is prepared to do so “On Day One,” as he famously declared.
So now that Putin, Musk, Christian fundamentalists, billionaires like Peter Thiel and ideologues like the Heritage Foundation (of Project 2025 fame) have all succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, I’d pose a simple question:
What do they need Trump for anymore? Trump is unstable, uncooperative, incompetent, sadistic, narcissistic and, in the words of Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of State, “a fucking moron.”
Trump has shown he has the ability to do one thing well and one thing only: con people. Otherwise, all he can do is cause problems. Trump has never solved a real problem in his life.
So now that fair elections are almost certainly a thing of the past, can Trump be of any use at all to the people who are really pulling the strings? The answer is, probably not. All he can do is foul things up by sticking his nose into things he knows nothing about… which is pretty much everything.
Now, on the other hand, Vance looks to be a much better deal. He’s younger, for one thing, and he’s also smart… smarter than Trump, anyway. (It’s a low bar.) He’s also relatively telegenic. But most importantly of all, Vance has shown himself to be completely, utterly subservient and willing to say or do anything to please his masters. (Good boy.)
Oh – and one more thing: if Vance should somehow become president, guess what? He could run for reelection in four years, something that Trump is Constitutionally prohibited from doing… not that Trump would let that stop him from trying to retain power. (Come to think of it, that’s yet another reason that Vance is a better deal.)
So here’s what I think:
I give Trump six months in office. That’s enough time to do whatever he can to scuttle his legal issues and get his programs underway. At that point, I say that he’ll be advised by Putin et. al. that it’s a good idea to quit while he’s ahead. The economy may well be heading south at that point, so leaving will help him preserve his “legacy.” That’ll be the pitch.
If Trump is smart (a big “if”), he’ll listen. He’s never been into actually doing work anyway, so he’ll the smart move is to cooperate and hand the reins over to Vance. Then Putin, Musk, Thiel and their cronies will pull the strings without any interference from the baby-man.
Trump can then enjoy the fruits of retirement at Mar y Lago, and/or flying around the world visiting the likes of tyrants like Victor Orban, Kim Jong Il and Xi Jinping – if they’ll find the time for him, that is. (After all, each of them has real work to do running a country, as opposed to wasting time on an idiot, blowhard, self-obsessed has-been.)
Or perhaps Trump might want to spend time with his pal Vladimir, working on his dream hotel in Moscow. It’s all good. For them, anyway.
But what if Trump decides not to cooperate? What if he decides he just can’t live without the spotlight? Well, in that case, Vladimir will be happy to make Trump a nice hot cup of polonium tea. Problem solved.
But that’s just my best guess. The question is… what do you think?
So here’s our very first PromiseUSA.org people poll.
(Note that if Trump shuffles off this mortal coil mid-term, we’ll never know the real story, of course.)
Use the comment form below to elaborate. As the old ad used to say, “Inquiring minds want to know!”
Thanks for taking the time – greatly appreciated! Keep on keepin’ on in these difficult times and we’ll look forward to hearing from you!
– Franklin James
