Happy with what was accomplished at his first summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump has invited Putin to come to the White House in the future for a second summit.
White House officials say that President Trump has already told John Bolton to invite Putin to the summit, and that discussions between the US and Russian officials about the possibility of a second meeting are “already underway.”
Trump expressed confidence that all difficulties between the US and Russia can be solved, and said he is looking forward to starting to implement some of the ideas that he and Putin discussed in the Helsinki meeting.
Trump and some Russian officials have made reference to verbal agreements reached at the summit. The specifics of many of these are unclear, and even top US intelligence officials have told the press they don’t exactly know what was discussed.
The notion that president Trump is subservient to president Putin is ridiculously wrong. Trump and Putin are building a companionship which began several years ago. Trump brings into it the country with the largest gdp and largest armed forces on earth. Putin brings into it experience and savvy.
For the companionship to be successful Trump had to become US president before he became too old.
The objective of that companionship is to free the path for their brand of crony-capitalism if not occasionally gangster-capitalism by removing or muting the last vestiges of social-democratic control and regulation everywhere. The objective has already significant resonance in China which is rapidly growing its own crop of super-rich crony-capitalists. Cuba will fall in line soon.
Iran? Iran is gas-rich but has built an almost impenetrable political and economic wall against the US. That wall must be torn down = regime change.
The rule for the new and old oligarchs is: you obey the leaders or else.
The EU and in particular Germany are the major nuts that remain to be cracked. Putin will use the gas cracker. Trump will use the tariff and NATO cracker.
Large segments of middle classes where these classes are significant begin to follow these pied pipers for their own perceived benefits.
I do not want to make this too long so tomorrow I will bring into the discussion all of the numerous potential and real pitfalls for the Trump-Putin companionship which will lead to its failure. Just one here: there are no successors for their leadership in sight (yet). Trump-Putin crony-capitalism may be short-lived. It is anchored just on these two men. That is why both need to meet often and in secret.
You are wrong only in assuming that either Trump or Putin like crony capitalism. And wrong especially in assuming how Chinese economy works. China has it down, in ways I have no time to elaborate. Russia has put them under control — but system is not as sturdy to secure them being banished into global ether. As gor US — if Trump is alowed time, cronyism that devastated our economy would be at least poked, it will lose some air. A beginning. You cannot have anything socially meaningfull for as long as globalists insist that there is no state, no borders, no accountability to you as taxpayer. They want to dissolve democratic institutions from local government on. Thus, immigration, no borders, global institutions via trade treaties, global legislature, executives and judicial powers spread across supernational institutions. This is where the battle commences snd must be won. Sovereign state must remain bedrock of reations. Then the international crooks can be managed. So, before walking we need to learn how to crawl. China has been vonstantly misjudged. For years now our learned experts predicted ghis or the other calamity just to find out that there is a method behind the incomprehensible. You would think it would teach these swolen heads to study China more carefully? If course not. For as long as punditry can say — we smart, they stupid – they were safe. Such comfy ways of making a living are up. Hence, Trump is wisely open to learning, keeping Smerican citizens’ interest front and center. World will not wobble if we decide to introduce some order in our own household, clean up our yard — and mend fences with others.
Is there some particular reason that Trump wouldn’t like the crony capitalism that made him a sometimes-billionaire when it wasn’t rescuing him from his several bankruptcies?
I thought about it .. who would not. Trump is a survivor at this game. Times have changed a great deal since his father made money building subdivisions. Now it is all about financial economy, product does not matter. This is what in turn creates cronyism, and the snake starts eating its tail. Trump is not stupid, never mind his reality political show. He (and I do not think he is flying solo) must realize the economic model is destructive, even though for sure, it can be milked a while longer. Crony capitalism depends on cronies, and cronies are gobbled up by bigger cronies. Look at publishing world, disappearance of smaller entities reduces quality and diversity. Everything has been dumbed down — and we actually believe that such system is conducive to innovation and competition. We can whistle past the graveyard — but innovation, energy and enterpreneuship is moving to the east. Military and space innovation as well. Trump and his ilk cannot possibly be that stupid not to see the relationship between crony monopolies and the decline accross the board.
He and others that are scratching their heads and looking at outcomes may not be capable of implementing reforms that will spearhead the change. I do not have high hopes. But as a minimum they will cause cracks, creating motion necessary for undermining status quo.
We may like it or not — but Russia has cut the roots of oligarchy, and enough systemic changes have been introduced to allow for strategiccdecision making. Chinese system is by far more resilient to cronyism.
But unless we look in detail and objectively , we do not learn. There are no blueprints for future, so here we are. Trump and others not stuck into status quo at least have a chance. Bush declared Trump’s inaugural speach “weird s—- “. Yes, it is weird to those who see only perfection around them. Trump does not. Does he have the answers? Of course not. But he is light years ahead of those who do not even know what are the questions.
“Look at publishing world, disappearance of smaller entities reduces quality and diversity. ”
There are almost certainly more publishing entities, of more sizes, and of varying levels of quality and diversity, right now than at any other time in human history.
But they are not in print on paper . The 4 big internet companies can and will gradually curtail and control more and more of what is being said on their domain to . We must be taught what to think .
taught by google , face book micro soft and the Southern poverty law center
He might figure he would have been a bigger billionaire if not for the crony payoffs he had to make.
Real estate is notorious for that.
Thank you for your discussion. Unfortunately there are a few spelling errors which make interpretation of what you say difficult or impossible.
I define crony-capitalists as groups of investors, bankers, entrepreneurs who jointly dominate or try to dominate their fields of endeavor with the objective to quickly and often unethically enrich themselves and their cronies. Unlike for example the classical capitalist Henry Ford crony-capitalists are not much interested in creating productive and long-lasting enterprises. Fly-by-night schemes and going bankrupt are their hallmarks.
I do not care whether Putin or Trump like or dislike crony capitalism. If the Russian system is not crony-capitalism with Putin undisputed at the helm of it, what is it? If Trump and his family and his hangers-on are not crony-capitalists who try to use his presidency to either wipe out their debts or get very rich quickly what else is going on?
One characteristic of US crony-capitalism is that it must wipe out all vestiges of Social Democracy, especially its regulations and safety nets. For me that is the only rational explanation of why President Trump wants to erase the last remainders of the New Deal and dump Obamacare.
My hypothesis is that Trump and Putin are partners of occasion. They might well become disenchanted with one another.
While it lasts they hope to spread crony-capitalism further into the world. The EU with its strong “memory” of the labor movement and social democracy is a potential opponent. It is a nut that must be cracked and Trump and Putin jointly will try to crack that nut. By hook or by crook or by both.
I admit that I have been too cavalier on China. China was never a Marxist communist state. It was Maoist. That creation is slowly being eroded. President Xi does not advocate crony-capitalism. However there are now plenty of crony-capitalist individuals and families in China. Will they eventually try to take power?
The first hurdle of the Trump-Putin collaboration must safely take is our November elections. The Congress must remain in the control of GOP Trump supporters and their hangers-on. I am sure that it was Putin and not Trump who has come up with the brilliant Machiavellian idea of having Putin visiting Washington shortly before the elections. Democratic candidates cannot be nasty about/to Putin because they will be accused of being disrespectful to an esteemed visitor of our nation which could sway fence-sitting voters to the GOP candidates.
About typing — I am bad as a rule, and worse last two weeks being in a ship, and squeezing every minute of my wifi.
Here is what I think. We all are very ignorant about political and economic systems of countries we talk about so liberally. What exactly is Putin’s crony circle? What family? We know even less about China. If I were to ask of ONE greatest difference between US and generally Western economic/political model is the question of PUBLIC CAPITAL. Who controls it? Who profits from it? Why is the color of public capital different from private capital, and treated differently. This translates into two different systems. One is based on public capital being invested in state run corporations, other on public capital being turned over to corporate run state. Corporate run state cannot have strategic goals, as private interests spend public money to suit their purposes. Public has no control over it. This is why corporate propaganda denigrates state, sovereignity or borders. For as long as these concepts exist corporation know that public has a chance to reign them in. Thus, eliminate as much as possible public decision making, erase borders, have multi ational entities, supranational institutions. Countries where public capital is invested through state run corporations are the oposite. They need the concept if home, country, goid fences that make good neighbors. Because this is the only way states can maintain citizen based model of governance that gives them legitimacy. This model contains accountability for state corporate performance. Private capital makes money — hence wealthy Chinese and Russian private sector. Private sector is not supposed to have humanitarian obligations. State run sector using public money is accountable to publicly set goals and strategies. Public money is never donated to private sector, and bright line separates them.
Until we better understand the functioning of state run corporations funded by taxpayers money, we will have hard time understanding either China or Russia.
exactly Putin will help Trump hold the house just by coming here and acting humble and defeated .
Medvedev is a perfect replacement for Putin . Trump will be almost impossible to replace How can we find a politiction that tells the truth and still can get elected in the USA . Never happened before Trump never will happen again after Trump . He is the most hated president ever .
Right. Trump never lies.
https://www.metro.us/president-trump/trump-lies-just-hit-3000
Sorry I may have exaggerated a little
Can Putin be safe anywhere in the US with every alphabet agency and millions of insane would-be communists gunning for him?
No kidding; they’d want to hit two birds with one stone. If it left a mushroom cloud, so be it.
That’s funny. Trump won’t tell the intelligence community what was said. They can’t overthrow him fast enough.
I wonder if Putin will be allowed to address the US Congress, and if he’ll get as many standing ovations as Netanyahu? (: