Even as Donald Trump is selling custom Bibles and portraying himself as the Christian-designated presidential candidate, he’s got some hellish support from some of the most morally unsavory dictators, leaders of nations with long histories as our principal global adversaries. Countries like Russia, China, North Korea and Iran – each with clear and ostensible efforts to steal our most vital secrets, supply military support to our killer enemies (sometimes involving military forces and global hitmen targeting US citizens and companies), use false flag operations, and undermine our elections with massive dis- and mis-information – are actively at it again… on steroids.
Many have questioned if any how the appellate bonds posted by Trump may be funded by sources within or close to these rogue nations, impacting his loyalty to the nation (vs to himself). Some also wonder how Trump Media may have been directly financially supported, literally thrown a lifeline, prior to the late March public offering which took an entity hemorrhaging red ink into a multibillion-dollar US publicly traded company, making Trump’s Truth Social his biggest (though now facing serious falling value) asset.
The April 3rd Guardian UK, analyzes how Trump Media may have survived prior to the offering: “Donald Trump’s social media company Trump Media managed to go public [in late March] only after it had been kept afloat in 2022 by emergency loans provided in part by a Russian-American businessman under scrutiny in a federal insider-trading and money-laundering investigation…
“[The pre-public offering cashflow burn rate] led Trump Media to take emergency loans, including from an entity called ES Family Trust, which opened an account with Paxum Bank, a small bank registered on the Caribbean island of Dominica that is best known for providing financial services to the porn industry… Through leaked documents, the Guardian has learned that ES Family Trust operated like a shell company for a Russian-American businessman named Anton Postolnikov, who co-owns Paxum Bank and has been a subject of a years-long joint federal criminal investigation by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into the Trump Media merger.”
As the April 2nd The Morning NYT newsfeed focuses on China’s election influencing efforts, writers Tiffany Hsu and Steven Lee Myers report: “Covert Chinese accounts are masquerading online as American supporters of former President Donald J. Trump, promoting conspiracy theories, stoking domestic divisions and attacking President Biden ahead of the election in November, according to researchers and government officials… The accounts signal a potential tactical shift in how Beijing aims to influence American politics, with more of a willingness to target specific candidates and parties, including Mr. Biden ….
“Some of the Chinese accounts impersonate fervent Trump fans, including one on X that purported to be ‘a father, husband and son” who was “MAGA all the way!!’ The accounts mocked Mr. Biden’s age and shared fake images of him in a prison jumpsuit, or claimed that Mr. Biden was a Satanist pedophile while promoting Mr. Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan…
“Putin’s reasons to prefer Trump seem obvious (even if Putin claims otherwise). Biden leads an international coalition opposing Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and U.S. support has enabled Ukraine’s much smaller military to stall Russia’s advance. Trump has suggested that he will end this support. A central part of Putin’s war strategy, intelligence experts believe, is to wait for Ukraine’s Western allies to tire of the war…
“But there appear to be at least two major ways in which China’s leaders could benefit from a second Trump term… The first involves America’s engagement with global politics. Biden believes that the world is in the midst of a struggle between autocracy and democracy, and he sees the U.S. as the leading democracy, much as past presidents from both parties did. In Biden’s view, the U.S. is “the indispensable nation” that must defend a democracy when an autocratic neighbor attacks, as Russia did in Ukraine and China may eventually do in Taiwan.
“Putin and Xi take a less idealistic view toward global affairs. They instead believe that strong nations should be able to control their own regions. Under Xi, China has become more aggressive not only toward Taiwan but also toward other neighbors. China has also expanded its influence in Africa and Latin America, effectively challenging the U.S.’s status as the world’s lone superpower.
“Trump has shown little interest in these issues. He is an isolationist who embraces the slogan ‘America First.’ He prefers that the U.S. avoid international conflicts, and he is skeptical of treaties and alliances. He said at a recent campaign rally that Russia’s leaders should be able ‘to do whatever the hell they want’ to some European countries… For Moscow and Beijing, the benefits of an American president who holds these beliefs are large… The second major advantage of a new Trump term for China and Russia is the domestic chaos that could result in the U.S. …
“Trump has shown little interest in these issues. He is an isolationist who embraces the slogan ‘America First.’ He prefers that the U.S. avoid international conflicts, and he is skeptical of treaties and alliances. He said at a recent campaign rally that Russia’s leaders should be able ‘to do whatever the hell they want’ to some European countries... For Moscow and Beijing, the benefits of an American president who holds these beliefs are large…
“A politically chaotic U.S. could allow other countries to assert more global influence… I understand that Trump supporters will object to the idea that he could undermine the national interest. Many support him precisely because they believe he can protect the country in a way no other politician will. His central promise, of course, is to make America great again… What’s striking, however, is that the country’s biggest global rivals believe that a Trump victory will serve their interests instead.” For White Christian nationalists, Trump’s victory in November is an existential necessity. And should Trump lose, you can bet that our opponents, particularly Russia and China, will do everything in their power to foment armed insurrection to destabilize the United States as a major military, political and economic power. For these malign powers, Trump’s potential victory is a glorious dream fulfilled.
I’m Peter Dekom, and for MAGA voters who believe the United States does not need functional relationships with the rest of the world, if they manage to elect Trump in November, they can watch soaring costs, dysfunctional supply chains provoking major shortages and unsustainable chaos that will unravel what little is left of our ability to govern ourselves.
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