If you’ve seen the portrait that Donald Trump couldn’t stop complaining about in the Colorado State Capitol, you'll likely agree. It’s one of the poorest portrayals of the man ever created. It’s not even a caricature, which would have at least made it amusing. It simply doesn't look like him – perhaps instead a first cousin?
One thing I’m sure of: The portrait Vladimir Putin commissioned of Trump will be more refined. Judging by the tone of Trump’s sycophant, Steve Whitkoff, as he described the chummy two-hour talk between Putin and Trump last week, it's a painting fit for a king (with gold plated frame or perhaps even gold painted?) And why wouldn’t Putin pay top dollar? Through this painting, he could unleash billions of dollars in Russian exports. Three years of American sanctions could disappear with one simple gift.
Oh yes, and by ceasing military aggression in Ukraine. This is obviously secondary, if it can even be called aggression by the White House anymore. After all, it takes two sides to fight a war, doesn’t it? By TrumpPutin’s account (we might as well combine their names as their views tend to meld into one), Ukraine antagonized Russia by expressing a desire to join NATO. Why Ukraine, a country already illegally annexed by Russia in the Crimea and eastern Donbas, would ever fear Russia might attack them, I haven’t the slightest clue.
The discourse in the U.S. is not yet pro-Russia but, thanks to Trump, it’s becoming more Russia friendly. Not only does he have media empires like Fox News to echo his upside-down worldview, he has Elon Musk, Minister of Propaganda (i.e. owner of X). Incredibly, Musk performs this duty in addition to his role as Minister of Destruction of Government Entirely (i.e. DOGE). Other prominent influencers, like podcaster Joe Rogan, are now repeating Russian talking points based on articles written by Putin himself.
It used to be that when Putin spoke, the public immediately discounted his speech as lies. As soon as he invaded Ukraine (the second time), he lost all credibility entirely. Now Trump is giving it back... on a silver platter. To a war criminal. Although one wonders how long Putin, like Trump, will be viewed by the world – led by a growing group of autocratic thugs – as guilty of anything. As we heard in the Oval Office meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which was chilling but perhaps not surprising, Trump views Putin as a victim.
Already Putin’s war crimes are being swept under the rug. The Trump administration recently cut off funding to Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab that was compiling a database of alleged Russian war crimes, including the abduction of 35,000 children from occupied Ukraine. The U.S. State Department cut off all access to this database, which not only hampers the prosecution of Putin by the International Criminal Court but hinders efforts to get Ukrainian children back to their families in Ukraine. Only due to Congressional pressure has the State Department temporarily restored some of the funding this past week. It's not clear if the evidence has been deleted or tampered with.
This is typical TrumpPutin behaviour. Like two mob bosses, they’ve staked out their territory (in their mind, this includes Ukraine, Greenland, Canada...), together sharing an autocratic kinship divided only by a European sea of inconvenient democratic norms and laws.
It’s terrible for the world, but particularly bad for Ukraine. Until Europe gets fully involved – with less talk and more military action – I fear that Ukraine will be the first of many to become America’s crumbling collateral damage.
But it will be one beautiful portrait.
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| The Coloradan Masterpiece |
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