The Kremlin in the White House: "Russia’s man in Washington", Donald Trump, moves to undermine defense of Ukraine

BACKGROUND

1) Joe Barnes, “Trump ‘vehemently disagrees’ with use of US missiles by Ukraine in Russia; President-elect says policy switch by Joe Biden’s administration has escalated the war between Russia and Ukraine,” The Telegraph, December 12, 2024 (2:49 pm GMT);

2) “Donald Trump se dit «vivement opposé» à l’emploi de missiles américains en Russie,” Le Figaro, le 12 Decembre 2024 (

3) “Trump gibt sich im »Time«-Interview als Friedensstifter; »Ich möchte, dass alle glücklich sind«: Er werde die Konflikte dieser Welt lösen, behauptet Donald Trump. Wie er das anstellen will, lässt er offen. Weniger friedlich gibt sich der künftige US-Präsident im Umgang mit Iran,” Der zspiegel, den 12. Desember 2024 (17.58 Uhr);

4) “Trump is a peacemaker in the “Time” interview; “I want everyone to be happy”: He will solve the conflicts of this world, says Donald Trump. How he wants to do that, he leaves open. The future US president is less peaceful in dealing with Iran,” Der Spiegel, December 12, 2024 (5:58 pm);

5) “Read the full Jan. 6 report from the Justice Dept. inspector general; The FBI properly shared intelligence before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot but made some missteps, the report says,” Washington Post, December 12, 2024 ((1:06 p.m. EST);

6) Andrew Jeong, “Trump announces Kari Lake as his choice for director of Voice of America; The former news anchor is a fierce Trump loyalist and election denier. She most recently ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, losing to Democrat Ruben Gallego,” Washington Post, December 12, 2024 (7:18 a.m. EST);;

7) Stefan Beutelsbacher, Stefanie Bolzen, und Pavel Lokshin, “Schlüssel, um Putin zu unterminieren“ – Der Sanktionsirrtum des Westens, Die Welt, den 8. Dezember 2024;

8) Stefan Beutelsbacher, Stefanie Bolzen, and Pavel Lokshin, “Keys to undermining Putin” – The West’s sanctions error,” Die Welt, December 8, 2024;***

9)“Read the Full Transcript of Donald Trump’s 2024 Person of the Year Inte,” TIME, December 12, 2024 (7:49:a.m. EST)..

The Washington Post did not report the most significant development of the day Nor did the New York Times. The Telegraph did. Trump will advance Moscow’s interests in general, and in the Ukraine war in particular. This should not come as a surprise to those who have been paying attention.

Joe Barnes in The Telegraph reported:

“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia,” Mr Trump told Time in an interview to mark being named the magazine’s person of the year for a second time. “Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done.”

Unfortunately, like the Washington Post and the New York Times, most people have not been paying attention.

What Trump said underlines the fact that the time has come for mass demonstrations to oppose Trump’s selling out the interests of Ukraine and the United States to Putin and Russia.

We are in the middle of a five-alarm fire, and the flames are shooting up all around us.

Each day brings a new outrage from Donald Trump. The latest is the nomination of Kari Lake to head the Voice of America. Edward R. Murrow, who was the first director of the U.S. Information Agency, of which the VOA was a part, is surely turning over in his grave.

I was a summer intern in the Office of the Assistant Director for Europe at the U.S.Information Agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. I can personally attest to the great dedication of its employees to tell the truth to the world especially through the Voice of America. I remember one day when I was meeting with a high official in a developing country with a harsh dictatorship, he interrupted our meeting to listen to the news on the VOA. For decades he VOA has been the principal source of objective news reporting in many countries. In a-number of countries with dictatorships it still is.

For generations the VOA has been a light to the world broadcasting the truth. Even if at times it succumbed to pressures from the State Department to tone down ts coverage of U.S policy, its lodestar remained the truth. That was the original course Edward R. Murrow had laid out for the institution at the beginning.

It was therefore with great sadness that I read this morning that Donald Trump plans to nominate Kari Lake, a 2020-election denier, to head the VOA. It will now become Trump’s Ministry of Truth, or one of them.

FURTHER READING

1) James Rowles, “"Russia's Man in Washington" Prepares Pro-Putin and Pro-Russian U.S. Administration,” Trenchant Observations, November 14, 2024.

2) James Rowles, “Trump's Pro-Russian coup is in progress. Get off the couch and ACT TODAY TO STOP IT!; Tomorrow may be too late, “Trenchant Observations, November 15, 2024.

3) Régis Genté, Notre homme à Washington, Trump dans la main des Russes (Paris: Editions Grasset, October 15, 2024).

4)James P. Rowles, “October 30, 2016 Donald Trump, Russian Stooge: Putin’s Trojan Horse Within Striking Distance of Victory,” in The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021 (2024), pp. 24-27.

5)James P. Rowles, “October 20, 2024 The Stakes in the 2024 Elections,” in Don’t Be Stupid. Pay Attention, Damn It! Advice for Undecided Voters and Voters Leaning Toward Trump (2024), pp. 182-184.

6)James Rowles, “UPDATED: Putin's escalation and the response of the West,” Trenchant Observations, September 24, 2022.(section on public diplomacy and VOA).

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James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities.

Recent Books by the Author

The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021(September, 18, 2024). Available on Amazon and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

Don’t Be Stupid. Pay Attention, Damn It! Advice for Undecided Voters and Voters Leaning Toward Trump (November 11, Available on Amazon and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

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