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Do You Think Russia Has Leverage Over Trump? And So What?

Nov 28, 2010
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And if so, what do you think it is and how would they use it?

Look, suppose there was collusion and Russia has proof. Or suppose they have pics of him boffing children. Or whatever. When, if ever, would it be of value to them to reveal that evidence? Once you reveal it, its leverage value is gone. And unless it's not collusion, revealing it is likely to make people even madder at you than at Trump. We can dump trump. But a lot of people will be calling for even more drastic action against Russia.

More likely than those is that they helped him out and he agreed to treat Russia better if he won, whatever that might mean. An understanding. An understanding that most Americans might get upset about, but not necessarily illegal. If revealed, it would be their word against Trump's. It's a new movie title: Untrustworthy and Untrustworthier.

The thing is, Trump is now president. Other than handing over incriminating evidence - if there is any - what leverage could they have to get Trump to do anything he doesn't want to do?
 
I think Russia holds hundreds of millions, perhaps billions in loans on Trump properties. I think he basically is their employee who gets a cut for laundering money for the mob. I think this has been his business model for decades.
 
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I think Russia holds hundreds perhaps billions of loans on Trump properties. I think he basically is their employee who gets a cut for laundering money for the mob. I think this has been his business model for decades.
Let's assume that's true. Now that he's president, how do the Russians use that leverage?
 
I'm not well versed on Russian goals. What does Russia want America to do? I'm of the opinion they could get their employee to do most anything they like.
Well . . .

Russia benefits from high energy prices. So deregulating the US fossil fuel industry is NOT something Putin wants, since that will increase production and the extra supply will reduce prices.

Russia's only naval station in the Mediterranean is Syria. So stepped up US action in Syria and more pressure on Assad is NOT what Putin wants.

Those are 2 things Trump is doing that Putin presumably doesn't like.

Strong enforcement of the Paris Agreement is also something that could hurt Russia's revenues. We are supposed to learn this week if Trump will renege on our commitment. If he does, that's presumably something Putin WILL like.

Putin was presumably happy when Trump was making anti-NATO noises. He's backed off on that. Or has he?

Anything that Trump does that embarrasses the US in the eyes of the world - especially if it calls attention to our racism, our predilection for violence, our fascism, or our support for brutal regimes is presumably something that Putin WILL like. Trump is doing well on those.
 
There are two main ways the Russians trap you...money & honey. And once they have you you don't just do one thing for them.
 
I don't know. There certainly seems to be a strong connection between Russia and the Trump administration.
 
There are two main ways the Russians trap you...money & honey. And once they have you you don't just do one thing for them.
I just don't see how they could control him. I can see him saying "I make deals wherever I go, including Russia" or "I grab pussy wherever I go, including Russia." And his supporters will lap it up.

One of the claims is that Trump helped Russia launder money by selling them property at exorbitant profit. He'll just shrug that off as a "good deal" he made.

And so on. We are dealing with an amoral president (at best).
 
What does Russia want America to do?

Well, for starters they probably want us to honor the treaty we signed, where we promised not to expand NATO any further.

Edit: That was like 10 new NATO countries ago.

It's funny to watch people in this country get mad at Russia, because Russia is mad that we broke the treaty we signed. These are the same people that decry that we can't get out of NATO in the first place...because we signed a treaty. The ignorance and hypocrisy of some people is truly astounding.
 
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