There’s only one explanation for Trump’s behavior. Our President is joining the other side. Trump’s presidency is only his first step to a world order dominated and dictated by three strongmen – Trump, Putin and Xi (“the Three Strong Men”) and destroying America’s status as a superpower. He’s joining his idols in their its efforts to supplant the US-dominated world order with one that gives them the power and leverage to write the rules and bully all other countries including the United States. Please don’t default to an oh-that-will-never-happen denial. It’s happening now.
Trump and Putin are starting with Ukraine. The rudeness, criticism and insults Trump and Vance fired at Zelensky in the White House was just to set the stage for pausing all military aid to Ukraine , pausing intelligence that helped Kyiv block incoming missile and drone attacks and target Russia’s invading forces, and assistance that allows Ukrainian strikes into Russia. All this is enabling a Putin victory and giving him a pass to invade NATO members. And Xi, China’s leader, is carefully weighing what Trump does with Ukraine as he decides whether to invade Taiwan.
Trump excluded Zelensky from peace talks with Putin and warned him that he either takes their deal, or “the U.S. is out.”
Vice President Vance and Trump already agreed with Putin that a peace deal would: prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, regaining any territory it lost during the war, require the demilitarization of Ukraine, and new elections which Putin will undoubtedly rig to install a Putin-puppet government. Putin’s also insisting that European security must be funded and defended only by Europe and not by the United States. Trump has agreed.
If Trump lets Russia win without having to confront American support, Putin will invade NATO members, probably starting with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They were formerly parts of the Soviet Union and are home to around a million ethnic Russians. Putin used both as justifications to invade Ukraine. Invading them will also begin to fulfill Putin’s dream of a Russian-led Eurasian empire. The invasions would also subject Europe to Russian bullying which would force our allies to acquiesce to Russian demands.
As former US Secretaries of State and Defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates warned, “to avoid confrontation with Russia the U.S. must help Ukraine push back the invader now…. If this lesson is ignored and Ukraine is defeated, Russia will almost certainly … attack NATO member countries.”
The Three Strongmen would want a weakened America economically and militarily and its status as a superpower diminished. Trump is already on the case.
- Trump’s already weakened America’s global influence, its economy and military might by suspending foreign aid and hobbling America’s Peace Core. They both build critical allies and spread America’s influence and military might, including by positioning military bases, around the world. Freezing these initiatives will make any confrontation against the Three Strongmen near-impossible.
- The discontinuance of foreign aid also weakens America’s economy because it currently strengthens our economy by growing foreign industries that buy U.S goods. Over the past 10 years, nearly two-thirds of the growth in U.S. exports went to major recipients of U.S. aid. Trump’s decided to reduce the work force of USAID — America’s chief administrator of foreign aid — from around 10,000 to under 300 and to cancel around 800 awards and contracts it administers.
- Trump’s already compromised America’s security by exposing and endangering many of America’s operatives who monitor adversaries like Russia and China. As a result, allies no longer provide American intelligence agencies with information that helps prevent international aggression, such a cyber-attacks, against the United States.
- In an effort to control what millions of students learn and how they think, Trump’s intent on eliminating the Department of Education that provides financial assistance to poor and disabled students. Without this aid, most of these Americans will be unable to afford a college education and be more vulnerable to disinformation. Remember, two-thirds of white men without college degrees voted for Trump in 2020. A less educated and more misinformed electorate will be more easily exploited by the Three Strongmen.
- In order to minimize opposition to his agenda, Trump’s had most FBI agents assigned to prosecuting anybody who opposes his agenda, and will purge the FBI of any employee who refuses to cooperate, even though these agents, when added to those he’s using to hunt down and deport masses of immigrants, will leave too few to target criminals. And crime will run amok.
- As a warning to those who oppose Trump’s destructive agenda, his Justice Department will prosecute and demote all employees who worked on prosecuting the January 6. rioters and, astonishingly, the Department called for cash reparations to be paid to the January 6 defendants. Trump also demanded jail time for those responsible for bringing the charges in the first place.
Another attraction that Putin holds for Trump is the freedom to take graft for political favors. His advisers have developed plans to eliminate any legal and regulatory obstacles in the way of creating the perfect environment for graft, self-dealing, lucrative influence-peddling and enriching his band of American oligarchs.
Trump’s eliminating multiple anti-corruption guardrails. He’s fired the people responsible for policing corruption, let politicians accused of wrongdoing off the hook and taken eleven more actions, to make corruption legal.
There is an additional explanation for Trump’s behavior. He checks all the boxes mental health professionals’ use to diagnose a sociopath. The term refers to people who:,
- are incapable of experiencing guilt, shame, remorse or empathy,
- exhibit aggressive behavior,
- verbally attack and insult their critics,
- can’t admit mistakes
- intimidate and threaten to maintain control
- disregard social norms, rules, protocols and laws,
- have difficulty controlling impulses ,
- act without considering the consequences and
In other words, putting his policies aside for the moment, we’ve turned a madman loose to run our country.
