Putting the US in (the former) USSR.
We’re all comrades here, right?
Has the Trump administration really acquiesced to Vladimir Putin?
Without a doubt, the answer to that question is a resounding Да (da). The thing is, it’s not so much a question of if but by how much. And, like so many things in this world, the answer can usually be determined when you follow the money.
Make no mistake: while the Biden administration was no friend of the Vlad, they were consistently accused of not only letting the intensity of their sanctions against Russia fade over time, but also of understaffing the departments responsible for maintaining them in the first place. That partially explains why Russia could still be seen doing whatever it wanted around the world, regardless of whatever financial duress we lobbed at it.
But where the Biden administration went out of its way to look like the stopgap against whatever machinations Russia could plot, the Trump administration has been just as diligent in dissolving those obstacles—while doing everything it can to keep its pro-Russian disposition as secret as possible.
And unless you’re paying attention—and actively looking for it—they’ve been pretty successful at keeping those secrets. Most Never-Trumpers don’t even know about half the things on this list. And if you’re a Trump supporter? Forget about it.
Case in point: there’s a guy I used to work with when I was on tour, and I’ve considered him, if not a friend, a compadre ever since. We bonded over tour-liver. You see, when you're on tour for years at a time, you discover that there’s not much else to do to pass the time besides drink. I mean, OK, maybe there are other things to do… but those things are boring! So we bonded over booze—and those unions can be forged in fire and committed to stone, for a time and in a manner of speaking.
It wasn't until after the tour that I discovered he was as conservative as I am progressive. (Think about that for a second. Yeah, I know.) But our connection from tour helped us navigate our drastically different viewpoints on the world and what the world needs to function fairly and respectfully. We found we could engage in the kind of discourse that would be tacitly impossible for others with such opposing viewpoints—but who hadn’t cemented a relationship of mutual respect and courtesy over the course of years.
But it’s been a long time since I’ve been on tour. And a lot’s happened since then. These days we barely engage, but when we do—from my perspective, at least—it’s become crystal clear just how much the world has changed.
I must say, Facebook loves it when we interact. It’s everything the algorithm Joneses for. Our exchanges elicit responses from our friends and the threads go on and on and on. And it seems like whenever there’s a particularly strident political event, his posts are the first thing I see when I log on. What a funny coincidence, eh?
Well, the day after that debacle in the Oval Office with Zelensky, Trump, and the Manchurian Candidate—I mean VP Vance—like clockwork, his was the first post I saw was when I logged on. I posited that Donald Trump has a long affiliation with Vladimir Putin. He asked me to prove it, and I responded with the Mueller Report and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings about collusion, collusion, collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. But apparently, that evidence is now too outdated to land for him.
That whole exchange had been rattling around in my head ever since, and I had to figure out a way to update this remarkable connection between the leaders of the United States and Russia in a way that would feel more now. Apparently, 2015 and 2016 are too prehistoric. So I decided to focus in on what’s happened since January 20, 2025. Maybe this list will feel more relevant to him. Maybe.
Here goes:
Trump’s brand-new Attorney General Pam Bondi (not his first hand-picked AG attempt, Matt Gaetz—the child sex trafficker. No, this is the replacement) managed to disband three fascinating programs on day one. See if you can spot the common denominator:
The Foreign Influence Task Force—dedicated to investigating violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and enforcing Russian sanctions.
Task Force KleptoCapture—created to enforce sanctions against Russia.
The FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force—built to combat secret influence campaigns by China, Russia, and other adversaries manipulating American politics.
Nuked before lunch.
Have you ever heard of CISA? That’s the cybersecurity division at Homeland Security. Lately, there’s been chatter about what unelected Elon Musk has been doing behind the scenes...aside from having one-on-one meetings with Putin himself. One of the lesser-known moves? He installed a 19-year-old operative—who personally operates websites in Russia and has connections to multiple criminal cyber-hacking gangs—into CISA. With full access to a U.S. government cybersecurity agency. Awkward!
So that’s Homeland Security. Over at the CIA, you might not have heard, but they’ve been enjoying a “counterintelligence disaster.” The person Trump installed as CIA Director emailed a full list of CIA employees to the White House... in an unclassified email. (Remember that whole hoopla with Hillary’s emails? No? It was a big deal for a while. Still nothing? Weird...) Turns out, releasing a list of all our CIA operatives for the internet to potentially see is not good for America. (Who knew??) But pretty awesome for Russia. The cherry on top? The Director only did it to comply with a Trump executive order. Maybe he missed the training day when everyone else in the intelligence field learned that handing classified intel to people who shouldn’t have it is bad.
Hey, did you hear that Trump has done away with that silly old security clearance thing? Background checks are total snoozes and tend to bring up awkward things like blackmailable debt, criminal entanglements, or secret foreign ties. You know—the kind of stuff that makes someone ineligible for a clearance. Well, President Trump has done away with those pesky little things because reasons.
Here’s one I didn’t even know about until recently, but it makes perfect sense. One of the ways Russia has been trying to break Ukraine is by destroying their electrical grid. Freeze them out. The U.S. had been helping Ukraine keep their power running—until about a month ago. Trump shut that support down. Again… because reasons.
Now, you’ve probably heard that Trump is done with all that “DEI” stuff and is pushing “merit-based success.” Which is why he appointed a former Fox & Friends host as Secretary of Defense. You know, the same one that unknowingly invited a journalist to a Signal chat group as the heads of the Trump administration casually chatted about classified info about the bombing of Yemen. Well, when that brainiac took his first trip to Europe, he completely bombed it. He stepped out in front of all the European leaders and volunteered that it was unrealistic to expect Ukraine to keep all of its territory. 🤔
Do you remember the G8? It doesn't exist anymore. Now it's the G7. Do you remember why it went from 8 to 7? Because Russia invaded Ukraine and was kicked out of the group of nations that made up the G8. I'll give you three guesses as to which country Donald Trump is trying to let back in?
But no, Trump’s not pro-Russia at all.
Let’s talk about the Presidential Records Act of 1978, which legally requires presidents to preserve records related to their official duties—including meetings with foreign leaders. Ever notice how hard it is to get a straight answer about when Trump last talked to Putin? Go ahead, Google it. Every single time he’s asked, you get a stunning performance of evasive tap dancing.
And then there’s this curiosity: During that embarrassing press conference with President Zelensky in the Oval Office, while the Associated Press and Reuters were banned from the event, Kremlin-controlled Russian state media were somehow granted permission to live-stream the event from the Oval Office. Curiouser and curiouser...
If all this makes you feel like you're in the Twilight Zone, you're not alone. The vast majority of Americans are right there with you. 81% don’t trust Vladimir Putin, versus the 9% who do. 78% view him unfavorably, versus the 11% who don’t. The problem is—as always—the 9% and the 11% are the loudest.
This post is long. And it's stuffed to the gills with pro–Russia, pro–Putin Trump activity. All of it based on things that have happened since January 20.
If someone can go through this list and still say there's no connection between Trump and Putin, at this point, that person deserves a little side-eye.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.