What follows is a mix of facts and speculative conclusions that, taken as a whole, answers many outstanding questions.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Donald Trump, the brash business man, lifelong Democrat and close friend and supporter of the Clintons and Chuck Schumer, makes multiple bad business decisions that end in bankruptcies from which he is able to shield himself while letting investors take the hit for his bad judgements. Banks don’t like this and become unwilling to loan Trump any money for future projects. Eric Trump thinks that it is the recession that is the reason banks won’t loan money to his father, as stated in this May 7th Business Insider article: Eric says “We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” In a May 17th Fortune article, Donald Trump, Jr. is quoted as saying, “[I]n terms of high-end product influx into the United States, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” Russian banks are neither gullible nor are they naïve. They are not freely loaning money to the Trump organization because they expect a financially profitable return. They loaned money and overpaid for real estate in order to make Trump dependent on his Russian benefactors and to secure his loyalty to Vladimir Putin from whom all Trump’s luxurious lifestyle now flows. Anyone who doubts this conclusion need only check Donald Trump’s income tax returns and financial records to verify the truth of the matter.
Vladimir Putin hates and blames the United States and Mikhail Gorbachev for the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the loss of many of the previously Eastern Bloc countries to Europe and the West. He hates NATO and wants to weaken or preferably dissolve the NATO alliances that prevent him from reacquiring former Eastern Bloc countries. Putin wants to weaken and destroy the freedoms enjoyed by the people of the United States of America and transform America into yet another oligarchy run by a dictator who is loyal to Putin. He is our enemy and he now owns an American businessman / President whom he can manipulate, and over whom he exerts incredible control, because Putin can quickly bankrupt Donald Trump and show the world that, far from being a successful billionaire, Donald Trump is entirely dependent on Putin for his luxurious lifestyle because he is a failure as a businessman. Donald Trump’s vanity and the possibility that Putin could destroy his public image as a successful billionaire is infinitely more frightening than any possible revelations about kinky sex acts with Russian prostitutes.
So, what instructions would Putin give to Trump in order to erode the foundations of our American constitutional republic?
First, foment hatred, division, xenophobia and racial enmity, because as people grow more polarized and hateful, their anger will prevent them from hearing and understanding the positions of their opponents which could allow them to meet in the middle and hash out their differences.
Second, direct anger and hatred at the Media. The American media is known as the Fourth Estate. The first three estates are the Congress, the Courts and the Executive branch. Calling the Media the Fourth Estate recognizes the indispensable need of the People for an unbiased view of how their elected representatives are serving them. Investigative journalists are our greatest defense against corrupt tyrants from both sides of the political aisle. It is no wonder that Trump hates them and wants everyone in America to consider them “The Enemy of the People.” This is a change from Donald Trump’s past dependency on the Media for his rise to fame.
Third, turn against NATO, call it obsolete, threaten to withdraw and refuse to affirm our commitment to a common defense of our European Allies. He has succeeded at this, as Germany is now warning other NATO members that they cannot count on US support in the event of an emergency such as a Russian incursion.
Fourth, decimate the State Department which is the instrument that has effectively and successfully spread American influence to countries large and, especially, small around the globe. Now the Russians can step in and exert their influence unchecked.
Fifth, propose the elimination of the First Amendment, the cornerstone of our freedoms which many fine men and women have given their lives to protect and defend. It was shocking that when Reince Priebus said that he and Donald Trump were considering amending or eliminating the First Amendment, this was treated as page three news instead of a front page, bold red, breaking news headline. While Congress and the states surely would not go along with this, it simply could not be more un-American. Only someone like Putin could consider this an achievable and desirable goal.
While the preceding analysis relies on some speculation, it provides a framework that makes perfect sense of so many of today’s otherwise incomprehensible headlines.