New York Times: Trump is Creating Pawns for his Russian Cold War

[Husky_Khan]

So... because mainstream media is terrible and I stopped reading fancy magazines with an international worldview like The Economist, I have barely heard anything about the Venezuela situation since like.... six months ago or whatever so on a lark, I decided to google for any news on Venezuela... plus with the mention in the State of the Union of Juan Guaido, I figured... maybe I can get an update.

Unfortunately two of the top recent articles were from the New York Times and the title of one piqued my curiosity.

Opinion | Trump’s Shout-Out Masks a Bleak Outlook for Venezuela’s Guaidó (Published 2020)

The U.S. president has made the troubled South American nation a political pawn in the new cold war with Russia.

www.nytimes.com

Okay... Trump's Shout-Out at the SOTU masks a bleak outlook for Guaido… okay... I'm curious. Read on...

Mr. Trump did emphasize United States leadership with respect to Venezuela, and that is where the problem is. The administration taking up the cause so explicitly a year ago effectively made Venezuela a geopolitical pawn. It is no coincidence that Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, will travel to Venezuela on Friday. The trip not only follows Mr. Trump’s State of the Union address, it comes a week after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

That's right... Mr. Trump (as opposed to President Trump but whatever) is taking up the cause of Venezuela so explicitly that they are making Venezuela a geopolitical pawn... just like Ukraine and other former Soviet states. But a pawn in what you may ask?

The U.S. president has made the troubled South American nation a political pawn in the new cold war with Russia.

Oh... wait... what?

So according to the New York Times, President Trump is using Ukraine... and Venezuela... as pawns... in his new Cold War with Russia?



I was unaware that... Trump was so... favorable to Ukraine and antagonistic to Russia. My impression from media like the New York Times was clearly... contrary to what I'm reading now.

Clearly a complicated world. [/quote]

 

[Deleted member]

Trump is owned by Russia until such time as it is convenient for the left to portray him as a classic warmonger President hell-bent on opposing Russia. Up is down, etc, etc.

 

[TriforcedLink]

TL;DR: Trump is somehow simultaneously Doctor Doofenshmirtz & Doctor Doom at the same time.

 

[Deleted member 88]

Wait so Trump is a warmonger and an agent of Vladimir Putin at the same time? Wow, that’s amazing.

1984 ain’t got nothin on this. The doublethink, I can barely begin to comprehend, the gold medal level mental gymnastics involved.

 

[Cherico]

Wait so Trump is a warmonger and an agent of Vladimir Putin at the same time? Wow, that’s amazing.

1984 ain’t got nothin on this. The doublethink, I can barely begin to comprehend, the gold medal level mental gymnastic involved.

We need to invest money in what ever company makes helmets for people with disabilities I smell money man.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

We need to invest money in what ever company makes helmets for people with disabilities I smell money man.

Hey, don’t call them disabled, they’re all special or challenged somehow, not that they’re challenged by anything somehow

Besides the Inmates are Running the Asylum, to the insane YOU are the one who is truly insane

 

[Big Steve]

Thing is, it wouldn't be hard to reconcile "Trump is confrontational towards Russia now" with "Trump's election was thanks to Russia".

I mean, if one accepts that Putin was dead-set at preventing Hillary from gaining the White House, that he'd prefer Trump who would more likely break down US alliances and strengthen Russia's position through increased isolationism, diplomatic insults, etc., then it leaves room for Putin to have simply not anticipated that Trump might stand up against Russian interests, if one believes Trump is actually being hostile towards Russia now. Alternatively, being hostile to Russia helps undermine the charge Russia put him in the WH.

And of course there's always the possibility Trump took the position of "I shall astonish the world, and Putin, with my ingratitude", if one still considers his election to have been Russia-backed.

 

[Tiamat]

Wait so Trump is a warmonger and an agent of Vladimir Putin at the same time? Wow, that’s amazing.

1984 ain’t got nothin on this. The doublethink, I can barely begin to comprehend, the gold medal level mental gymnastics involved.

Ah now see when you mention gymnastics, at the risk of sounding like a dirty old man, which i am, I always think of all those lovely young female gymnasts. This is pure 1984 doublespeak, up is down and black is white type of crap.

 

[Lanmandragon]

Even assuming this was true which it obviously is not. Why is it an issue for POTUS to form alliances? Besides "orange man bad" of course.

 

[Deleted member 88]

Thing is, it wouldn't be hard to reconcile "Trump is confrontational towards Russia now" with "Trump's election was thanks to Russia".

I mean, if one accepts that Putin was dead-set at preventing Hillary from gaining the White House, that he'd prefer Trump who would more likely break down US alliances and strengthen Russia's position through increased isolationism, diplomatic insults, etc., then it leaves room for Putin to have simply not anticipated that Trump might stand up against Russian interests, if one believes Trump is actually being hostile towards Russia now. Alternatively, being hostile to Russia helps undermine the charge Russia put him in the WH.

And of course there's always the possibility Trump took the position of "I shall astonish the world, and Putin, with my ingratitude", if one still considers his election to have been Russia-backed.

Problem is, if you genuinely believe Russia has dirt on Trump or has him otherwise somehow under their leverage-then Trump turning against his alleged patron or trying to undermine the charge(by real opposition to Russia not just performative opposition)-then either the Russians bet badly on their Siberian candidate or this SVR operation backfired in spectacular fashion.

If your going to install or try to get a pro Russian president elected in the USA-if I was Putin or the head of the SVR I would want to be absolutely sure none of what you describe happened. Either by direct control and leverage, or a good enough understanding of Trump's character and disposition to know he wouldn't go off our script.

It just doesn't make sense. Also the US is a superpower and much stronger than Russia-not Georgia or Kazakhstan-even if it was direct Russian intervention that got Trump in the WH-the amount of leverage it would have over him once he safely got there would drop precipitously. Trump could easily turn around and betray his Russian backers and not suffer the consequences for it due not being a small country bordering Russia itself. But rather a superpower and indeed much more powerful and influential than Russia.