Managed to deceive the deep people, bend the deep elites, subjugate the deep state, and most importantly, transform power into a means of personal enrichment.
That is why Trump envies Putin so desperately—not as a president to another president, but as a hustler to a thief. And that is why he still hopes to strike a deal and feast together at the expense of neighboring suckers. And that is why he constantly saves his friend Volodya not out of geopolitical considerations, but due to class proximity.
And he wants to turn the White House not even into the Kremlin, but into the Gelendzhik Palace.
However, this closeness is imagined, because a cynical developer and a cemetery scammer-golfer will never be on par with an overseer in the red zone with hands stained in blood up to the elbows. So there will be no real deal. Not according to their rules.
And when the hustler gets mired in internal problems, when friendship with the thief brings much more trouble than benefits, then his fascination won’t exactly pass, but will give way to calculation.
This is already evident today, when the attempt to concoct a diesel deal resulted in a sharp decline in ratings even among Republicans. The dealer may remain under illusions for a while, may still manage to initiate another war or betrayal of Ukraine, but none of this will save him.
After January 3, Trump will be more concerned with preserving what has been looted than looting anew. And if both chambers are against him, he will abandon collaboration with Putin as an overly toxic asset. Friendship is friendship, but tobacco separately.
This will not immediately improve Ukraine’s situation, but at least it will stop worsening it constantly.
As for humanity stopping voting for populists after this, I don’t particularly hope 😉.
Illustration: Ella Baron
