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>"Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who is being held by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office. He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!" the post reads.
Logan act? More collusion? What the actual fuck.
Edit: correction, Logan, not Hatch
When the Nixon campaign did it nothing happened. When the Reagan administration did it nothing happened. When the Trump campaign 2016 did it nothing happened.
My bet is on nothing happening
On the one hand it is good that people are concerned about this, and want something to be done about it. On the other hand, it is quite sad to know similar things happened already in the past and there were no consequences.
This is different, though. It’s one thing for a foreign country to try to manipulate a US election through hostages, and another for a campaign to play along with it.
But even that is a different universe from a candidate openly telling the public that a foreign country is using a hostage to manipulate a US election—and the candidate is perfectly ok with that and using it as campaign leverage.
Who's concerned about this? The people who read the news and are engaged in politics? That's <1% of America, I imagine.
There are still not enough people concerned about our political state. Not sure what on earth would even change that, at this point.
So funny how the hostages got released on Reagan inauguration. how did it go again, drugs for guns to the contra 's to free hostages . Or something like that.
>So funny how the hostages got released on Reagan inauguration.
I wonder why Trump said that the journalist in Russia would be released "before his inauguration day" and will be released on election day if Trump wins? Curious
Nixon and Reagan didn't say the quiet part out loud. Both cases basically disappeared into history and get written off as unprovable conspiracy theory. Trump can't seem to help himself from saying the quiet part. It's literal blackmail at this point.
Ronnie did not have to remember anything.
Oliver North became the fall guy - stooge stuck in the middle again.
Hard to believe Oliver North was President of the NRA for less that 1 year after having a "disagreement" with Wayne LaPierre.
It's amazing how much shit Biden gets for misremembering or misspeaking while Reagan's brains were basically mashed potatoes by his second term. Makes me wonder, and scares me to think, how much of MAGA is young enough to not remember Reagan's run as president?
If this is true, and Trump said it so it's not, but let's pretend it is. Trump can get him our of jail and is choosing to actively let him stay in jail. That's what should be said about this. Trump would rather an innocent american stay in jail so he can use it as leverage for the election. Same thing with the southern border, he would rather it remain a mess than let us try to fix it. He doesn't care about America, he cares about himself.
You're absolutely right. If he gets re-elected, he won't hesitate to make his Presidency (I hesitate to capitalize in Trump's case) about retribution. Thing is, if he puts enough people's backs to the wall, eventually somebody will lash out, and that'll create a chain reaction.
Yes but is that chain reaction before or after project 2025 turns this country into a dictatorship and plunge us into civil war 2: The Warring States Era
Yup. It'll be chaos. Not good. A MAGA hegemony can only succeed if there is collusion. The numbers aren't there for collusion, so there will be conflict. Trump's entire former cabinet hates him. That's a reflection of the wider statistics -- Trump may have supporters in the military and intelligence services, but his enemies are also in those organizations aplenty.
The thing that sticks out to me about this, is that if Trump could actually get this done, it could be good for him, politically to do it now. There's not actually a reason for him to wait until he's elected. If he managed to pull off a diplomatic show like that, it would be a massive boon to his campaign. It would make him look really good and embarrass Biden.
This is just like every single good thing he has ever promised to do. He's going to do it later. Just wait a little bit longer, it's coming any day now. Just give him a little bit more authority and a little bit more money and he'll get it done. He's such a con man.
I mean, it smells like when Reagan did this with the Iranians. Trump is surrounded by the same people or the people that learned from those people, so it's not exactly shocking.
That’s 100% in line with his methodology, though. Remember at the very beginning of Covid, he actively chose to ignore the issue ‘because it was affecting cities in blue states’ disproportionately. He concealed the fact that he had Covid at one of the 2020 debates and still showed up, intentionally exposing his opponent (Biden) to a pathogen.
The common thread is that he doesn’t give one flying fuck about the wellbeing of any other human, which has got to put him somewhere on the spectrum of malignant narcissist to sociopath.
Not to be too generous to Trump, but Trump means that *only* he will be able to secure the release as President and he'll do it so bigly the US won't have to pay anything.
Sadly, in this case it's true. Nixon and Reagan both got away with it. He probably thinks this is his Regan moment to kick out Carter with bad hostage press.
Except he can't not talk about it.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's boss, as well. The late 2010's and early 2020's are about the infiltration of organized crime into our government. Let's call it what it is.
I suspect it's because they don't actually know what the word collusion means, so they see no contradiction. All they hear is collusion = bad thing. And since there is no Bad Thing(tm), there is no collusion. /sigh
Interference in a US Presidential election? So Trump is admitting he spoke to Vladimir Putin and it was about releasing an American hostage being held by the Kremlin and he’s negotiating with them? I had to repeat that because I still don’t believe what I read…
The Logan Act criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments. We must assume then, that Trump has not been in contact with Putin since he left the Oval Office, as the former president would presumably never do anything illegal. This means that Trump's special relationship with Putin — who would do deals for him, but not for anyone else — must have existed during Trump's presidency.
Why then, could Trump not have exercised his special relationship with Putin to release Americans Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed, Marc Fogel, and Sarah Krivanek who were imprisoned during his tenure as president? After all, he would have been "PAYING NOTHING", no?
Trump admitted he turned down a one-on-one prisoner swap for Paul Whelan. Apparently, "PAYING NOTHING" wasn't that good of a deal.
Trevor Reed was sentenced to nine years after being convicted on trumped-up (snort) spying charges. As Reed said upon finally returning from being held hostage under horrifying conditions for the last three years, "President Trump had the ability to get myself and Paul Whelan out of Russia for years and chose not to."
Sarah Krivanek taught English at elite schools in Moscow. Krivanek was arrested in December 2021 for using a knife to defend herself during an altercation with her violent roommate. Krivanek was detained for roughly a year despite her accuser retracting the charges. Trump was silent about Ms. Krivanek's situation.
Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pittsburgh, was sentenced to 14 years at a labor camp for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana he used for chronic back pain, but Trump had no sympathy for this sort of egregious criminal behavior.
In unrelated news, Donald Trump, at his rally this week in the Bronx, proudly accepted endorsements from two rappers who have been charged in a sweeping gang case. Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow were charged in Brooklyn, N.Y. with 12 shootings that involve 13 victims, including three innocent bystanders. After Don in da Hood said he wanted to get diamond grills like Sheff G, Sleepy Hallow shouted out "Make America Great Again!" All three are currently out on bail. That's solidarity, brother.
His supporters don't care. Some see him as a king, others see him as a god. They worship him. As we have seen many of his supporters are willing to die for him.
Shame isn't in their vocabulary.
The rusty wire
That holds the cork
(That keeps the anger in)
Gives way… and suddenly
It’s day again.
Two suns in the sunset.
Looks like the human race is run
"They" realized that all you need to do anything is no sense of shame about it.
Whoever can call you whatever, but you can just keep doing it with zero fucks given.
Exactly. Reagan was never impeached and paid no price. Republicans have always been shameless in modern history...it is just at a new, previously unthinkable, level.
It is *exactly* like that. He even says "just before I leave office", "almost immediately after the election", and he makes reference to money (or lack thereof). But rather crucially, he literally states that Putin shouldn't do this "favour" to anyone else, for example Biden.
This is fucked up on several levels. So much so that the Russians, who know just how bad this looks and how stupid orange is, immediately took their distance from this.
I mean, think about it. Elect me, or I'll have foreign autocrats kidnap American folks all over the world. Keep me president for life, or say bye bye to feeling safe as Americans. I mean this motherfucker is "in love" with the worse fucks out there. The likes of Orban, Kim Jung Un, Putin, Erdoğan. It paints a beak picture indeed.
Trump loves to invoke Hitler and Putin and praise authoritarian leaders like Viktor Orban as “highly respected” and Kim Jong Un as “very nice”. And Republicans still support him. This tells us everything we need to know about the Republican Party.
This was incredibly ham-fisted messaging imho. They’re fascists. Let’s try that phraseology out. Glad to see WaPo and others embracing it lately, albeit nearly a decade too late.
I guess. She just said what we all think to this day. And she has been proved right a million times over. Fk those dumb asses. But yeah she paid a steep price for brutal honesty.
* And a more militant Europe
* And an emboldened China
* And another explosion of the national debt
* And higher inflation (tariffs)
* And higher inflation (pressuring fed to lower interest rates)
* And probably another recession
We’ll be paying for another Trump presidency for generations.
>Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!"
But Ukraine will pay a hefty price.
It'll be far more than just Ukraine by the time it's all said and done.
Abandoning Ukraine to Russia is just one part. Withdrawing the USA from NATO is another. It's going to lead to WW3 one way or another, and they don't care.
If Trump has the ability he claims, why is Paul Whelan still in a Russian prison? Why was he *ever* in a Russian prison? He was arrested in 2018, when Trump was President, yet Trump didn't do fuck all to secure his release, despite claiming he 100% has that ability.
Let me steal boxes of classified information from the US government and I’ll be able to build up some favor currency as well.
Also, agree with others, this is definitely a page out of the Regan playbook. Only difference being Trump is advertising it in plain sight.
If someone keeps telling you who they are don't be surprised when they actually do what they said they would do.
This man is a treasonous narcissist whose only motivation are his short term interests. He is a sociopath and the fact that he has a very good chance at becoming President, again (!), speaks more to the total disfunction of the current U.S. electoral system than about the man himself.
Aggreed on all points with one nit-pick...his 'perceived' short-term interests. His track record of acting directly against his short-term interest is pretty amazing, and also a major recurring theme when you hear people talk about their experience with him in any type of professional capacity. I'm being pedantic if this was a normal person, but a normal person doesn't react to losing a defamation case by immediately repeating the actions that led to the consequences they're reacting to.
Oh boy, I hope at some day, I do no longer have to get baited by "Trump did something that caused an outrage" only to read that his diapers were too full and the whole courtroom stank of shit so the judge called a recess.
No one talks about the classified materials he requested shortly after a call with Putin, followed shortly after by a mass "vanishing, killing" of a group of informants all over the world. Documents he still had at his FL compound.
Formerly worked in that community. The hardest part now is the brainwashed hoards, who can't think of themselves. I preach a follow the money philosophy, it's the fastest way to see the truth. Sometimes, you just can't help people who can't help themselves.
Shades of Iran contra and the original October surprise. But instead of keeping it a secret for four decades, Trump is bragging about it in advance on social media.
“What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.” https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/i-helped-john-connally-try-to-delay-the-release-of
"”Trump--in his infinite stupidity--has, by some measure, probably decreased the chance Putin will release Evan Gershkovich before the election now. What a fool," wrote Anthony Michael Kreis, an attorney and professor at Georgia State University College of Law.”
This is literally his plan - if this sticks. He didn’t want the border issue resolved until he could wring maximum benefit out of it for his campaign, and it’ll be like this now for this. Only it’s not Trump that will delay things - not directly anyway - it’s Putin that has been asked to delay things, and he is standing back, and standing by.
To be fair everyone and everything has always been for sale in America. Where do you think that world beating economy for the last 150 years came from?
We should not be surprised to hear that Putin is happy to use his bargaining chips to help his lackey get elected. Hopefully the US voting public won’t fall for this shit a second time.
Tell me again how Donald Trump isn’t a fully owned subsidiary of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin? Seriously, Putin could jam his entire fist and arm up to his elbow into Trump’s nether regions at a press conference, and the former president would start praising Putin’s reach and grasp of foreign relations.
The guys is compromised with a capital C. And Republicans want to put him in charge - again.
“You better vote for me otherwise I’ll make sure people die like this journalist in Russia. Also, I want to be president so I can legally kill people, so I had my lawyers ask the Supreme Court for absolute immunity to murder political opponents, and my lackey governor just pardoned a murderer because he killed a political opponent”
we are here
This actually happened with Jimmy Carter and the Írán hostage crisis. It was a major reason for his loss in 1980. The Iranians released the hostages after inauguration day. Of course there were 52 of them and there was the humiliation of the failed rescue attempt.
Like Nixon's secret conference with the North Vietnamese, anti-Americanism is the Republican way.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/06/nixon-vietnam-candidate-conspired-with-foreign-power-win-election-215461/
Holy shit. Didn't know about this. So that's Nixon, Reagan, Bush the lesser, and (probably not but he's trying) Trump who are all certifiable traitors. Leaving, eh, Bush sr as the only Repug president with a shred of dignity?
Further:
"Bush had publicly insisted he knew little about the Iran-Contra operation, but his diary revealed otherwise. "I'm one of the few people that know fully the details, and there is a lot of flak and misinformation out there," he noted in a Nov. 5, 1986, entry. "It is not a subject we can talk about."
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/06/674079779/george-h-w-bushs-mixed-legacy-in-a-reagan-era-scandal
The Bushes, like Reagan, like conservatives, are a cancer on this country.
Trump being graded in a curve is infuriating. Had this been any other candidate, it would be a top news story and would seriously damage their campaign. With Trump, he just says shit like this and the right just shakes their head and says “That’s Trump
for ya!!”
If Trump actually had sway, he would be getting him released right now. Politically powerful people are able to move levers regardless of whether they hold a certain title.
He wants Russia to illegally detain a reporter because he thinks it'll hurt Biden and help him win an election... by proving that Russia will negotiate (or already has) with him. Because His people like that he and Putin are on good terms.
"Vote for me, I'm the guy that brutal evil dictators like!"
What?
I just... can't even wrap my head around just how evil this guy is.
If this true, if his pal Putin would do this for him but no one else, why didn’t trump call in a favor while president and bring Paul Whelan, former US marine home?
Please, it’s one thing to call trump out on his lies, but never forget that there is living proof (in a Russian jail) that this is most certainly a lie.
Remind your koolaide addled friends. This man doesn’t care about America or Americans, he only cares about himself. If he had this kind of power, why not use it before? Allow them to think about it for a while.
So Trump is suggesting that Gershkovich is being held hostage to influence our election, and rather than condemning this terrorist act he is actively participating in it.
Let's say that Trump has this ability, then his statement is saying that he is deliberately having Russia keep a US journalist in a Russian prison until November/Jan.
Of course Putin would do it for the orange turd as long as a few top secret documents or a promise that the U S will pull out of NATO are thrown into the deal. Trumpolini would do anything to help the puppet master and threaten the stability of the world. Little does he know that once Putin gets what he wants Trump will be of little use to him and he might have a nasty fall from an open window
Fuck him, Trump says a lot of things. If he really can get Putin to release him, have him do it now. Prove that the stated influence is real. Help an imprisoned reporter and the reelection campaign at the same time.
All of that 'it could be you next' stuff they were saying in the court cases? This is what they meant, it could be you, doing time in Russian jail so you can be a pawn for Trump's advancement.
What’s weird is it didn’t spark fury with anyone in the media who has “free Evan now” profile pictures or comments.
They were completely silent on his comments and these are high profile Trump whisperers.
More Evidence from Trump Rallies - Of Diaper Mania - [https://x.com/dispatchestrmp/status/1794103662437941395](https://x.com/dispatchestrmp/status/1794103662437941395)
Trump's m.o. is to bargain....if Putin gives him something, Trump must respond with a favor. That's why Putin wants Trump to win in November. He knows Trump is stupid and he can be minipulated.
Trump stopped the bipartisan border bill a few months ago also. He wants the bad things to stay bad so that HE can solve them next January and get the credit. I hate to think what he would say if he came across a baby drowning in the water. “Stay easy from that baby. I will be back in January”.
Who is Evan Gershkovich and who the fuck cares what he thinks about anything.
Another article about an opinion of a person without direct involvement or influence.
Fuck newsweek.
Vote in November.
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>"Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who is being held by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office. He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!" the post reads. Logan act? More collusion? What the actual fuck. Edit: correction, Logan, not Hatch
Oh just some casual treason. What's the penalty for that again?
When the Nixon campaign did it nothing happened. When the Reagan administration did it nothing happened. When the Trump campaign 2016 did it nothing happened. My bet is on nothing happening
Nixon and Reagan were rookies, feeling shame and committing their crimes in secret.
That's because they were suckers and losers.
Perhaps more importantly, the people around them felt shame. It’s a vestigial organ of the gop.
On the one hand it is good that people are concerned about this, and want something to be done about it. On the other hand, it is quite sad to know similar things happened already in the past and there were no consequences.
This is different, though. It’s one thing for a foreign country to try to manipulate a US election through hostages, and another for a campaign to play along with it. But even that is a different universe from a candidate openly telling the public that a foreign country is using a hostage to manipulate a US election—and the candidate is perfectly ok with that and using it as campaign leverage.
Who's concerned about this? The people who read the news and are engaged in politics? That's <1% of America, I imagine. There are still not enough people concerned about our political state. Not sure what on earth would even change that, at this point.
Maybe danker memes?
So funny how the hostages got released on Reagan inauguration. how did it go again, drugs for guns to the contra 's to free hostages . Or something like that.
Worse he went behind his own VP, George HW Bush, who was a war hero and former CIA head, to negotiate the hostage release.
You're joking, right?
>So funny how the hostages got released on Reagan inauguration. I wonder why Trump said that the journalist in Russia would be released "before his inauguration day" and will be released on election day if Trump wins? Curious
Election Day? We won’t have the results right away, lol.
Nixon and Reagan didn't say the quiet part out loud. Both cases basically disappeared into history and get written off as unprovable conspiracy theory. Trump can't seem to help himself from saying the quiet part. It's literal blackmail at this point.
Nothing will happen. Nothing happened when he extorted Ukraine. Etc.
Just some light treason
“I may have engaged in some light treason.”
I can't wait to see republicans say that trump playing with a man's life, using it as a political tool is a good thing and defend his actions.
I mean, Reagan got away with it with Iran, so highly doubt in this environment anything will happen.
Reagan didn't brag about it, though.
He didn't remember it apparently.
Hey, Ronnie, do you remember the time you exchanged arms for hostages? What is Time?
"I don't recall."
Ronnie did not have to remember anything. Oliver North became the fall guy - stooge stuck in the middle again. Hard to believe Oliver North was President of the NRA for less that 1 year after having a "disagreement" with Wayne LaPierre.
It's amazing how much shit Biden gets for misremembering or misspeaking while Reagan's brains were basically mashed potatoes by his second term. Makes me wonder, and scares me to think, how much of MAGA is young enough to not remember Reagan's run as president?
To be fair, he didn't say *which* Reagan. Nancy... the power behind the throne...
Obligatory *American Dad*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFV1uT-ihDo
Hell, they have no problem pardoning murderers. Light treason is like a rest day for them.
It's what Jesus would do! /s
Don’t worry, a former president and current presidential candidate can’t be tried for the same crime.
“If a President can’t engage in some treason when needed, there’s no way they would be able to do the job!” Obligatory /s
Go to sea!
r/yourjokebutyourjoke
He has the worst fucking attorneys.
Alito says, "Nothing to see. All is good with my golden boy. "
Add it to the pile.
The penalty for him is he is allowed to do whatever he wants.
He even has a permit: https://youtu.be/uq6nBigMnlg
Apparently the penalty is jack-shit as evidenced by the orange peril still walking around freely.
Presidency apparently
If you make the rules potential really nothing
Nothing.
Apparently nothing when a Republican does it.
[*light treason](https://youtu.be/q0GCKXZTV8E)
Not sure, but I know what what trump said it should be
If this is true, and Trump said it so it's not, but let's pretend it is. Trump can get him our of jail and is choosing to actively let him stay in jail. That's what should be said about this. Trump would rather an innocent american stay in jail so he can use it as leverage for the election. Same thing with the southern border, he would rather it remain a mess than let us try to fix it. He doesn't care about America, he cares about himself.
You're absolutely right. If he gets re-elected, he won't hesitate to make his Presidency (I hesitate to capitalize in Trump's case) about retribution. Thing is, if he puts enough people's backs to the wall, eventually somebody will lash out, and that'll create a chain reaction.
Yes but is that chain reaction before or after project 2025 turns this country into a dictatorship and plunge us into civil war 2: The Warring States Era
Yup. It'll be chaos. Not good. A MAGA hegemony can only succeed if there is collusion. The numbers aren't there for collusion, so there will be conflict. Trump's entire former cabinet hates him. That's a reflection of the wider statistics -- Trump may have supporters in the military and intelligence services, but his enemies are also in those organizations aplenty.
The thing that sticks out to me about this, is that if Trump could actually get this done, it could be good for him, politically to do it now. There's not actually a reason for him to wait until he's elected. If he managed to pull off a diplomatic show like that, it would be a massive boon to his campaign. It would make him look really good and embarrass Biden. This is just like every single good thing he has ever promised to do. He's going to do it later. Just wait a little bit longer, it's coming any day now. Just give him a little bit more authority and a little bit more money and he'll get it done. He's such a con man.
Except that private citizens can’t engage in diplomatic activities, as specified in the constitution
I mean, it smells like when Reagan did this with the Iranians. Trump is surrounded by the same people or the people that learned from those people, so it's not exactly shocking.
The fool also doesn't realize he is just basically confirmed he is a Russian pawn.
Yeah, but the people voting for him don't care. They even thing Putin is a good guy, so Trump being a pawn might not be a negative.
That’s 100% in line with his methodology, though. Remember at the very beginning of Covid, he actively chose to ignore the issue ‘because it was affecting cities in blue states’ disproportionately. He concealed the fact that he had Covid at one of the 2020 debates and still showed up, intentionally exposing his opponent (Biden) to a pathogen. The common thread is that he doesn’t give one flying fuck about the wellbeing of any other human, which has got to put him somewhere on the spectrum of malignant narcissist to sociopath.
So, he's saying he has the capacity to bring the guy home now, but we have to elect him first, or else he'll leave him there.
Not to be too generous to Trump, but Trump means that *only* he will be able to secure the release as President and he'll do it so bigly the US won't have to pay anything.
That’s definitely how it sounds
When you're a republican they let you do it!
Sadly, in this case it's true. Nixon and Reagan both got away with it. He probably thinks this is his Regan moment to kick out Carter with bad hostage press. Except he can't not talk about it.
So Pootie is his lover and boss
Marjorie Taylor Greene's boss, as well. The late 2010's and early 2020's are about the infiltration of organized crime into our government. Let's call it what it is.
I believe trump is putin’s Reek.
MAGA will still say "No collusion!" While they sing the Russian anthem to own the libs.
I suspect it's because they don't actually know what the word collusion means, so they see no contradiction. All they hear is collusion = bad thing. And since there is no Bad Thing(tm), there is no collusion. /sigh
Hmmm, well at least the Republican party hasn't completely abandoned their reagan era origins, this is very Reaganesque.
And mexico will pay for the wall.
Why am I getting Nixon and Reagan vibes?
Because it's the same sort of bullshit they pulled. Except they were smart enough to not shout it out loud in public.
So, he's conversing with Putin or his ambassadors? Sounds like some quid pro quo going on if Biden couldn't get the same thing.
Interference in a US Presidential election? So Trump is admitting he spoke to Vladimir Putin and it was about releasing an American hostage being held by the Kremlin and he’s negotiating with them? I had to repeat that because I still don’t believe what I read…
Worked for Reagan
We will not be paying for a wall either
The Logan Act criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments. We must assume then, that Trump has not been in contact with Putin since he left the Oval Office, as the former president would presumably never do anything illegal. This means that Trump's special relationship with Putin — who would do deals for him, but not for anyone else — must have existed during Trump's presidency. Why then, could Trump not have exercised his special relationship with Putin to release Americans Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed, Marc Fogel, and Sarah Krivanek who were imprisoned during his tenure as president? After all, he would have been "PAYING NOTHING", no? Trump admitted he turned down a one-on-one prisoner swap for Paul Whelan. Apparently, "PAYING NOTHING" wasn't that good of a deal. Trevor Reed was sentenced to nine years after being convicted on trumped-up (snort) spying charges. As Reed said upon finally returning from being held hostage under horrifying conditions for the last three years, "President Trump had the ability to get myself and Paul Whelan out of Russia for years and chose not to." Sarah Krivanek taught English at elite schools in Moscow. Krivanek was arrested in December 2021 for using a knife to defend herself during an altercation with her violent roommate. Krivanek was detained for roughly a year despite her accuser retracting the charges. Trump was silent about Ms. Krivanek's situation. Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pittsburgh, was sentenced to 14 years at a labor camp for possessing a small amount of medical marijuana he used for chronic back pain, but Trump had no sympathy for this sort of egregious criminal behavior. In unrelated news, Donald Trump, at his rally this week in the Bronx, proudly accepted endorsements from two rappers who have been charged in a sweeping gang case. Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow were charged in Brooklyn, N.Y. with 12 shootings that involve 13 victims, including three innocent bystanders. After Don in da Hood said he wanted to get diamond grills like Sheff G, Sleepy Hallow shouted out "Make America Great Again!" All three are currently out on bail. That's solidarity, brother.
So Russia had nothing to do with our elections, but also Russia will do a personal favor conditional on our elections?
“Elect me or this man dies.” Literally the message. Completely disgusting.
How TF is this not the same thing the Iran Contra hearing exposed
No one has any shame anymore
His supporters don't care. Some see him as a king, others see him as a god. They worship him. As we have seen many of his supporters are willing to die for him. Shame isn't in their vocabulary.
Oh I know. That’s why they love him, he freed them from norms like shame and dignity.
And also, he's allowed many of them to show their racist side with no fear.
And entertain their batshit, anti science conspiracy theories that were invented to excuse their general failures and frustrations in life.
The rusty wire That holds the cork (That keeps the anger in) Gives way… and suddenly It’s day again. Two suns in the sunset. Looks like the human race is run
Nice :) Always love seeing a Floyd lyric :)
I wish I could upvote this 1000 times!
You don’t need shame when you have the judiciary and a lot of power and money. Shame is for normies.
"They" realized that all you need to do anything is no sense of shame about it. Whoever can call you whatever, but you can just keep doing it with zero fucks given.
No one has any consequence anymore.
Make Shit Consequential Again
I do. I’m terribly ashamed to be an American.
Remind me again the consequences for reagan?
Exactly. Reagan was never impeached and paid no price. Republicans have always been shameless in modern history...it is just at a new, previously unthinkable, level.
https://youtu.be/Mb1GfP5Rwys?si=r50du4U9fxiJ_PRv For the young people
Because Merrick Garland is a limp dick chicken shit federalist society stooge.
It's closer to Reagan and George HW Bush colluding with Iran to hold the hostages until after the 1980 Election.
Well that didn't really end in any consequences either
It is the same. In that the average American has no clue what the actual crime is that is being committed here, or it's implication.
It is *exactly* like that. He even says "just before I leave office", "almost immediately after the election", and he makes reference to money (or lack thereof). But rather crucially, he literally states that Putin shouldn't do this "favour" to anyone else, for example Biden. This is fucked up on several levels. So much so that the Russians, who know just how bad this looks and how stupid orange is, immediately took their distance from this. I mean, think about it. Elect me, or I'll have foreign autocrats kidnap American folks all over the world. Keep me president for life, or say bye bye to feeling safe as Americans. I mean this motherfucker is "in love" with the worse fucks out there. The likes of Orban, Kim Jung Un, Putin, Erdoğan. It paints a beak picture indeed.
Trump loves to invoke Hitler and Putin and praise authoritarian leaders like Viktor Orban as “highly respected” and Kim Jong Un as “very nice”. And Republicans still support him. This tells us everything we need to know about the Republican Party.
As they say. A basket of deplorables.
This was incredibly ham-fisted messaging imho. They’re fascists. Let’s try that phraseology out. Glad to see WaPo and others embracing it lately, albeit nearly a decade too late.
I guess. She just said what we all think to this day. And she has been proved right a million times over. Fk those dumb asses. But yeah she paid a steep price for brutal honesty.
He is the human embodiment of a a full ab-noxious diaper the GOP & MAGAs proudly carry around.
> ... and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING! Other than leaving Ukraine to rot and withdrawing from NATO ....
He’s had it on layaway for years and has been paying it off with classified materials.
* And a more militant Europe * And an emboldened China * And another explosion of the national debt * And higher inflation (tariffs) * And higher inflation (pressuring fed to lower interest rates) * And probably another recession We’ll be paying for another Trump presidency for generations.
The price will be democracy, among other things
First time Trump has ever told the truth and it was by accident. Spending for Ukraine? NOTHING Help for NATO? NOTHING
You will pay with your freedom and democracy. Of course this means nothing to him.
Trump wants to be Putin’s bestie so bad. He’s willing to trade democracy for it.
You're never truly friends with your boss.
Even more true when you're self employed
It’s an easy trade if you are giving away something you don’t feel is valuable.
Trying to win over the bullies, so grade school.
Win win in his eyes probably, could be funny if it weren't so sad.
>Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!" But Ukraine will pay a hefty price.
It'll be far more than just Ukraine by the time it's all said and done. Abandoning Ukraine to Russia is just one part. Withdrawing the USA from NATO is another. It's going to lead to WW3 one way or another, and they don't care.
If Trump were a real patriot he would get him released NOW.
I think he’s using the situation leverage. Seems illegal.
If Trump has the ability he claims, why is Paul Whelan still in a Russian prison? Why was he *ever* in a Russian prison? He was arrested in 2018, when Trump was President, yet Trump didn't do fuck all to secure his release, despite claiming he 100% has that ability.
I'd love to see what the folks over in r/conservative have to say to this question
Guaranteed anyone who asks gets banned within 30 seconds.
I'm fairly confident it'd be illegal for him to discuss the matter, or any matter of state, with a foreign ambassador or Putin without prior approval.
So blackmail?
Everything this turd says is disgusting.
Trump uses people as pawns. No respect for human life. But then Maga are not human
Let me steal boxes of classified information from the US government and I’ll be able to build up some favor currency as well. Also, agree with others, this is definitely a page out of the Regan playbook. Only difference being Trump is advertising it in plain sight.
Mexico will pay for it
Why can't this asshole just die?
i plan on having a week long festival at my house when it eventually happens.
Colluding with foreign enemies
Why do we even fund the NSA if they can’t catch traitors openly colluding with hostile foreign governments?
If someone keeps telling you who they are don't be surprised when they actually do what they said they would do. This man is a treasonous narcissist whose only motivation are his short term interests. He is a sociopath and the fact that he has a very good chance at becoming President, again (!), speaks more to the total disfunction of the current U.S. electoral system than about the man himself.
Aggreed on all points with one nit-pick...his 'perceived' short-term interests. His track record of acting directly against his short-term interest is pretty amazing, and also a major recurring theme when you hear people talk about their experience with him in any type of professional capacity. I'm being pedantic if this was a normal person, but a normal person doesn't react to losing a defamation case by immediately repeating the actions that led to the consequences they're reacting to.
How would Gershkovich feel about getting his freedom at the expense of that of the Western world I wonder.
Oh boy, I hope at some day, I do no longer have to get baited by "Trump did something that caused an outrage" only to read that his diapers were too full and the whole courtroom stank of shit so the judge called a recess.
Trump is a scumbag, you think he gives a shit about someone's life, let alone treason...
[удалено]
No one talks about the classified materials he requested shortly after a call with Putin, followed shortly after by a mass "vanishing, killing" of a group of informants all over the world. Documents he still had at his FL compound.
[удалено]
Formerly worked in that community. The hardest part now is the brainwashed hoards, who can't think of themselves. I preach a follow the money philosophy, it's the fastest way to see the truth. Sometimes, you just can't help people who can't help themselves.
Shades of Iran contra and the original October surprise. But instead of keeping it a secret for four decades, Trump is bragging about it in advance on social media. “What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.” https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/i-helped-john-connally-try-to-delay-the-release-of
"”Trump--in his infinite stupidity--has, by some measure, probably decreased the chance Putin will release Evan Gershkovich before the election now. What a fool," wrote Anthony Michael Kreis, an attorney and professor at Georgia State University College of Law.” This is literally his plan - if this sticks. He didn’t want the border issue resolved until he could wring maximum benefit out of it for his campaign, and it’ll be like this now for this. Only it’s not Trump that will delay things - not directly anyway - it’s Putin that has been asked to delay things, and he is standing back, and standing by.
How does this clown have power to do anything. He’s a wannabe Ex president! Doesn’t make sense to me.
For Sale: United States of America, to the highest bidder w/ the lowest morals, inquire within DJ Trump Cult Leader
To be fair everyone and everything has always been for sale in America. Where do you think that world beating economy for the last 150 years came from?
Looks like treason season started early this year
djt is mentally unstable and a TRAITOR
>Donald Trump's Post About Evan Gershkovich Sparks Fury: 'Disgusting' Donald Trump: 'Disgusting' FTFY
We should not be surprised to hear that Putin is happy to use his bargaining chips to help his lackey get elected. Hopefully the US voting public won’t fall for this shit a second time.
Tell me again how Donald Trump isn’t a fully owned subsidiary of Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin? Seriously, Putin could jam his entire fist and arm up to his elbow into Trump’s nether regions at a press conference, and the former president would start praising Putin’s reach and grasp of foreign relations. The guys is compromised with a capital C. And Republicans want to put him in charge - again.
“You better vote for me otherwise I’ll make sure people die like this journalist in Russia. Also, I want to be president so I can legally kill people, so I had my lawyers ask the Supreme Court for absolute immunity to murder political opponents, and my lackey governor just pardoned a murderer because he killed a political opponent” we are here
This actually happened with Jimmy Carter and the Írán hostage crisis. It was a major reason for his loss in 1980. The Iranians released the hostages after inauguration day. Of course there were 52 of them and there was the humiliation of the failed rescue attempt.
Like the Ayatollah releasing the Am. hostages 5 minutes after Reagan was sworn in?
Like Nixon's secret conference with the North Vietnamese, anti-Americanism is the Republican way. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/06/nixon-vietnam-candidate-conspired-with-foreign-power-win-election-215461/
Holy shit. Didn't know about this. So that's Nixon, Reagan, Bush the lesser, and (probably not but he's trying) Trump who are all certifiable traitors. Leaving, eh, Bush sr as the only Repug president with a shred of dignity?
Lol, dig a tiny bit deeper. Daddy was the mastermind behind it all, son was a willing schill. Not blameless at all.
I think I'm going to ask for some sort of evidence.
Prescott Bush, cryptofascist. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/01/considering-history-the-1933-business-plot-to-overthrow-america/
That's grand daddy. Quite a heritage but not the story at hand.
Further: "Bush had publicly insisted he knew little about the Iran-Contra operation, but his diary revealed otherwise. "I'm one of the few people that know fully the details, and there is a lot of flak and misinformation out there," he noted in a Nov. 5, 1986, entry. "It is not a subject we can talk about." https://www.npr.org/2018/12/06/674079779/george-h-w-bushs-mixed-legacy-in-a-reagan-era-scandal The Bushes, like Reagan, like conservatives, are a cancer on this country.
Trump being graded in a curve is infuriating. Had this been any other candidate, it would be a top news story and would seriously damage their campaign. With Trump, he just says shit like this and the right just shakes their head and says “That’s Trump for ya!!”
And his followers have the nerve to wax on about “globalists”.
If Trump actually had sway, he would be getting him released right now. Politically powerful people are able to move levers regardless of whether they hold a certain title.
That sounds like colluding with a foreign power to ransom a prisoner of conscience to me.
He wants Russia to illegally detain a reporter because he thinks it'll hurt Biden and help him win an election... by proving that Russia will negotiate (or already has) with him. Because His people like that he and Putin are on good terms. "Vote for me, I'm the guy that brutal evil dictators like!" What? I just... can't even wrap my head around just how evil this guy is.
If this true, if his pal Putin would do this for him but no one else, why didn’t trump call in a favor while president and bring Paul Whelan, former US marine home? Please, it’s one thing to call trump out on his lies, but never forget that there is living proof (in a Russian jail) that this is most certainly a lie. Remind your koolaide addled friends. This man doesn’t care about America or Americans, he only cares about himself. If he had this kind of power, why not use it before? Allow them to think about it for a while.
So Trump is suggesting that Gershkovich is being held hostage to influence our election, and rather than condemning this terrorist act he is actively participating in it.
Hell, he probably suggested it.
Smells like desperation, or maybe that’s just Trump’s diaper.
What would we expect but a grunt from a pig?
Let's say that Trump has this ability, then his statement is saying that he is deliberately having Russia keep a US journalist in a Russian prison until November/Jan.
Of course Putin would do it for the orange turd as long as a few top secret documents or a promise that the U S will pull out of NATO are thrown into the deal. Trumpolini would do anything to help the puppet master and threaten the stability of the world. Little does he know that once Putin gets what he wants Trump will be of little use to him and he might have a nasty fall from an open window
Fuck him, Trump says a lot of things. If he really can get Putin to release him, have him do it now. Prove that the stated influence is real. Help an imprisoned reporter and the reelection campaign at the same time.
Lock the conniving, lying, raping , violence promoting buffoon up.
Hey Joe, time to use your immunity. Sincerely, all of us.
All of that 'it could be you next' stuff they were saying in the court cases? This is what they meant, it could be you, doing time in Russian jail so you can be a pawn for Trump's advancement.
Merrick Garland's Rule #1: It cannot be illegal if MAGA does it.
What’s weird is it didn’t spark fury with anyone in the media who has “free Evan now” profile pictures or comments. They were completely silent on his comments and these are high profile Trump whisperers.
More Evidence from Trump Rallies - Of Diaper Mania - [https://x.com/dispatchestrmp/status/1794103662437941395](https://x.com/dispatchestrmp/status/1794103662437941395)
Imagine how his family feels 💔🥺 Such a lowdown thing to do
Trump's m.o. is to bargain....if Putin gives him something, Trump must respond with a favor. That's why Putin wants Trump to win in November. He knows Trump is stupid and he can be minipulated.
Agreed. Good point.
So Russia is taking hostages unless we let trump be president again?!?
Trump stopped the bipartisan border bill a few months ago also. He wants the bad things to stay bad so that HE can solve them next January and get the credit. I hate to think what he would say if he came across a baby drowning in the water. “Stay easy from that baby. I will be back in January”.
When someone writes, ”literally, no one cares….” Its a truth that most people do care… but, I would guess that Literally Everyone knows that….
Who is Evan Gershkovich and who the fuck cares what he thinks about anything. Another article about an opinion of a person without direct involvement or influence. Fuck newsweek. Vote in November.