Anyone who believes Trump and Putin colluded in the 2016 election is an idiot. There’s no other way to put it. These two leaders are clearly facing each other with extreme tension. They have opposing goals and ideologies, but they also acknowledge that the stakes behind any animosity are too great to ignore.
This is the stage of their conference in Helsinki. It’s beyond clear that Putin had an easier time manipulating Obama than he can ever hope to expect from Trump. It’s also clear that Trump doesn’t hold Putin in any higher regard than any other world leader. As always, Trump will heap praise on him if he plays ball and fling insults otherwise. Supposedly, it’s all part of the deal, but what really matters is that Trump has been more consistent with politicians around the world than any other leader we’ve seen.
Trump has a single interest in every negotiation: promoting American interests. He doesn’t need collusion because he sits at the helm of the world’s most powerful country. Best of all that power has grown significantly under his leadership. The booming economy (that he set in motion) is just more leverage for him to push Putin into a corner.
This video really says it all. It explains the importance of economics in these meetings and discusses how Putin and Trump can rebuild the Russian-American relations that withered so terribly under Obama. Take a look.
