Two days ago if you had asked me this, I probably would have said: “Yes”. Now, as the tariff wars have started and other countries have began retaliating against America, I no longer believe Trump is actually “working” for Putin.[1]
Because as soon as China retaliated against Trump’s tariffs with hefty tariffs of its own, global oil prices went down. Dramatically. And this is a major problem for Russia.
Now if the world economy takes a massive hit and oil prices go down — and they’re currently falling with no end in sight — this is bad news for Putin. Very bad news.
Now let us assume oil prices continue to go down, and Russia suffers a major hit. Sooner or later this will make it exceptionally hard for the Russians to maintain pressure on the Ukrainians at the front, let alone even begin to think of another major offensive any time soon, if at all. Now maybe, Trump has called Putin’s bluff… or maybe this is an unintended effect from his “Liberation Day”. Either way, it appears to be hitting Russia, and pretty badly. Just how badly, time will tell. But I don’t think this will be beneficial to Russia, at all.
If Trump really is working for Putin, he is a very incompetent ally and friend and one who does Russia more harm than good. So either he really intended to betray Russia all along, in which case, good for him. Or else, he’s harming his “boss” without meaning to, which means he is just stupid. You may choose which explanation to believe, here.
Footnotes
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