Member-only story
Is Donald Trump A Russian Asset?
I always try to look at the other side of any issue, even if it’s one I’m deeply invested in. Take the idea that Trump is and has been a Russian agent. I personally believe it has been an extremely dangerous bit of propaganda meant to gin up enough hatred of Russia that U.S. citizens would not only tolerate foolish escalations with a nuclear-armed country but would actually cheer them on. Nevertheless, I always take time to look at every important issue from various angles in order to understand it more fully and not become too invested in my own interpretation. Thus I asked myself today if there could be any truth to the idea that Trump was in fact doing the bidding of the Kremlin.
The notion is crazy on the surface, something out of a cheap spy novel. No, worse than that, it is something out of a Boris and Natasha cartoon. But perhaps that is my own bias speaking. I mean, after all, it is as good an explanation for Trump’s behavior as any other. The alternatives being that A. Trump is a super genius whose machinations are so complex that no mere mortal can comprehend them B. He’s an idiot who’s out of his depth when it comes to something else besides making real estate deals. A doesn’t seem real likely, so I therefore tend to go with B. But if Trump were being controlled by Russia in order to destroy U.S. standing in the world, it might look very much like this.