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The Hill: Putin is sending a not-so-friendly message to Trump
The Hill - Putin is sending a not-so-friendly message to Trump
by Alexander J. Motyl
opinion contributor
11/18/24 10:00 AM ET
Is Vlad dissing the Donald? It sure looks like it.
A few days ago, Russia’s prime-time “60 Minutes” program congratulated Melania Trump on her husband’s electoral victory by displaying on air a handful of nude photographs of the future first lady that had originally appeared in GQ Magazine in 2000.
President-elect Trump may or may not have found the photographs to be offensive, but he was likely miffed by their appearance in Putin’s propaganda media. Make no mistake, it was Putin, and not the program’s obnoxious hosts Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeeva, who decided to show the pics. That both were visibly amused only underlined the degree to which the photos were meant to embarrass, not to celebrate.
It gets worse. Not only did Putin show the photos, but he did so before formally congratulating Trump on his victory, while also denying the veracity of the Washington Post’s report that he had spoken with Trump by telephone.
None of this is serendipitous. Putin is obviously sending some kind of message. But what and to whom? Several possibilities come to mind.
It may be that Putin is intimating that he possesses embarrassing “kompromat” on him. Rumors of such compromising materials have been circulating since the first Trump presidency, although they haven’t been substantiated. If it is true, Putin might be warning Trump not to go too far with his peace plans.
/snip
by Alexander J. Motyl
opinion contributor
11/18/24 10:00 AM ET
Is Vlad dissing the Donald? It sure looks like it.
A few days ago, Russia’s prime-time “60 Minutes” program congratulated Melania Trump on her husband’s electoral victory by displaying on air a handful of nude photographs of the future first lady that had originally appeared in GQ Magazine in 2000.
President-elect Trump may or may not have found the photographs to be offensive, but he was likely miffed by their appearance in Putin’s propaganda media. Make no mistake, it was Putin, and not the program’s obnoxious hosts Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeeva, who decided to show the pics. That both were visibly amused only underlined the degree to which the photos were meant to embarrass, not to celebrate.
It gets worse. Not only did Putin show the photos, but he did so before formally congratulating Trump on his victory, while also denying the veracity of the Washington Post’s report that he had spoken with Trump by telephone.
None of this is serendipitous. Putin is obviously sending some kind of message. But what and to whom? Several possibilities come to mind.
It may be that Putin is intimating that he possesses embarrassing “kompromat” on him. Rumors of such compromising materials have been circulating since the first Trump presidency, although they haven’t been substantiated. If it is true, Putin might be warning Trump not to go too far with his peace plans.
/snip
14 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
This Shit UP! 