Is it animus towards Ukraine rather than love of Russia?
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This is a collection of thoughts about Trump and Ukraine that I have not seen put together before. Let me be clear that these are both facts and allegations. Connecting the threads may have some explanatory power. I know that some readers will strenuously disagree with the factuality of what I’m presenting. OK with me. The fact that they are allegations is what's important.
About Donald Trump:
Donald Trump was seriously persecuted by the intelligence community, with the collusion of the diplomatic community, NGOs and deep state in general, throughout his first administration. Among the documents produced to defame him were the Steele dossier from the intelligence community. Many Americans still strenuously defend the persecution of Trump. The mainstream press is surprisingly silent as the anti-Trump argument falls apart.
It is journalists who were formerly liberal, among them Matt Taibbi, Naomi Wolf, Alex Berenson, and Glenn Greenwald who have the joined the effort to investigate whether or not there was any substance to the persecution of Trump or whether it was just a witch hunt. Many of them have compiled stories that are going to unmask a purported conspiracy among John Brennan, James Comey, Christopher Wray, James Clapper and others.
It is alleged that Trump is a politician who holds grudges. Most politicians do. It's a useful technique for keeping people in line, making sure your supporters do not feel entitled to stray off the reservation. See Rep. Massie in yesterday’s Big Beautiful Bill vote. One might ask if Trump has a grudge against Ukraine. It seems to me more probable than the frequently voiced suspicion that he owes Putin something.
Matt Taibbi alleges that of the 17 American intelligence agencies, Brennan, Clapper, Comey et al totally excluded 13 from work on the Steele dossier in the investigation of Trump. These guys were careful in staffing these projects to make sure that only predictable never-Trump loyalists were represented.
About Ukraine.
Ukraine has never supported Trump or the Republican party. Ukraine’s oligarchs have purportedly sent large donations to the Democrats throughout the let past 20 years.
Ukraine was home to a one of the largest USAID operations in the world. Trump has disbanded USAID more thoroughly than any other agency. I was a consultant to USAID from 1969 to 1972. I do not know firsthand of actual malfeasance, but I will speak to the futility of their programs in the ineptitude with which they were managed. I have written about the tastelessness of the USAID sponsored advocacy here in Ukraine of the liberal agenda on issues of sex. USAID was at best useless, IMHO.
The American intelligence community was quite active here in Ukraine. In particular, we had biological weapons laboratories here. Most Ukrainians did not know about them. Our spooks played a large role in building Ukraine’s defense and intelligence organizations after Yanukovych was chased out. We can be thankful for that – against all odds, Ukraine survived the Russian onslaught of 2022. But it would be naïve to suppose that there was no quid pro quo. The Americans here served America’s interests and, presumably their own partisan interests. Those of the Democrats.
The American Embassy and NGO community in Ukraine were strongly aligned with the Democratic Party. I wrote about it on 12 years ago, and I posted my same thoughts again in March. Certain members of the military such as Ukrainian-American Ltc. Alexander Vindman have been strongly anti-Trump in their public speaking.
The Ukrainian intelligentsia, among them historians Timothy Snyder, Taras Kuzio, and to a lesser extent Sergei Plohii have been strongly against Trump since he appeared on the stage in US politics in 2014. They were almost certainly aligned against him before Trump had any knowledge of who they were. They chose him as an enemy, not the other way around.
Pure speculation
Now I venture into the realm of speculation, topics about which I have read nothing by other authors.
I would speculate that the CIA and USAID, with their large staffs in Ukraine, and knowledge Russian, may have been called upon to provide input for the Russiagate investigation. Again, I have no evidence, just a guess that they would have proven a useful resource.
My observation is that the Ukrainian oligarchs such as Victor Pinchuk, Igor Kholomoisky, Vadim Rabinovich and the others who control the news here – who are mostly sitting the war out in Israel - have been a long aligned with the Democrat party. They are the powers that put Volodymyr Zelinski into the presidency.
My opinion (not shared even by my wife) is that Zelensky has proven himself a pretty good wartime president and surprisingly independent of the oligarchs who put him in power. It is nonetheless a good idea to keep his historical associations in mind. There is undoubtedly more to the story than I know.
It is said that Zelensky relies on a very small circle of advisors. It may be because hidden kingmakers are still advising his political moves. One obvious move was remove the popular and effective Gen. Valery Zaluzhny from his position as head of the Armed Forces. From what I have read in the papers, and glean from his book Моя Війна (My War), which I am now reading, he is an independent, self-made man, and thus a dangerous potential political opponent.
Conclusion
I'll wrap up in saying there may be on factors that we have not been led to consider behind Trump's reluctance to provide weapons to Ukraine. There is a case to be made that it is not his love of Russia so much as his animus towards Ukraine. Stay tuned to Matt Taibbi and the sources he cites such as Aaron Mate, Dan Bongino, Michael Schellenberger. I will not be surprised to read if Ukraine is mentioned with some frequency.
At the same time, watch Zaluzhniy and other heroes that emerge from this war. I think that the oligarchs’ time may be up. I hope that they are comfortable in their Israeli refuges and that new, independent voices come to the fore in Ukrainian politics.
In other news, the Russians gave Kyiv a good shellacking last night. It began shortly after sundown and lasted until dawn. Lots of machine gun and small arms fire, presumably against drones, and loud swooshes followed by big explosions, presumably ballistic and cruise missiles. Earliest and most thorough reportage, with photos, seems usually to come from this Ukrainian source.
Every time I try to get out they DRAG ME BACK IN!!!!
The phone call that got Mr. Trump impeached COULD have made him a friend to Ukraine for life. Ukraine should at the very least have never gotten involved in supporting either candidate. Not smart. And like stream says, President Trump NEVER FORGETS.
I consider Mr. Zelenski to be a tragic figure. The West holds out the carrot of support, and there were others who famously told him about the stick if he tried to make good on his election promise to make peace with the Russians.
Oxsana maybe thinks he's not doing a great job at managing the war. Sure, I also think Zaluzhni should have been allowed to make the battlefield decisions. A fighting retreat to more defendable positions would have saved a lot of lives and cost the enemy more dearly. Make them think they've got you on the run, and then ATTACK! It's a tactic that was long used by the Red Army. Frankly, I don't know WHO was in charge, but I have my doubts that it was Zelensky.
And man, I thought the booms were never gonna stop last night. First time I actually have been awakened by the noise, even when the war started 3 years ago.
You wanna know what's worrying me at this time? What are our friends and neighbors going to think about us Amis after the betrayal? Will we be persona non grata in the country we've decided to call home? And if you think Trump is a betrayer, wait'll JD gets into office, (and I actually DO believe he'll have a good shot).
Oh well, at least we can still do random acts of kindness. When you get your license and see a soldier walking, offer him a ride. Attend funerals to show support to the families of those not coming back. Donate blood. I won't talk about our donations and gifts to some fellows heading for the front lines, but you'll feel good about it. There's always some collection in the various chats on Telegram for your local area. And never look down on a drunk staggering down the street with his beat-up camouflages. We have no idea what hell that man has endured.
God Bless!
Rags to riches stories. Unlike Trump, who had a big head start. The vibes these people give off are of common folk. Not like, say, Mitt Romney or Obama.