Gotta agree with George Conway on this one

[senseandsensibility]

From his bluesky account: "There are hundreds if not thousands, of reasons to believe that Donald Trump is a fool. But the fact that it took almost a decade for him to figure out that Putin has been playing him for one is as good as any."

In case you missed it, trump suddenly realized this morning that Putin might not always be on the up and up. He actually said, "We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time but it turns out to be meaningless." I mean ......

[dflprincess]

1. Trump will be back to kissing Putin's ass

By tomorrow.

[senseandsensibility]

4. Of course

It's not like he actually learned a lesson in ten years or anything like that.

[democratsruletheday]

37. Exactly princess....

trumpler is the KING of bullshit. Fucking ass clown that he is.

[hatrack]

47. Vladimir will just take him back in Russell's old room . . ..

/revision/latest?cb=20090501131406

[wcmagumba]

2. Like the parrot in "Bell, Book and Candle" said..."Who's a fool"...

https://clip.cafe/bell-book-candle-1958/uh-oh-whos-a-fool-youre-a-fool

[PatSeg]

3. I think a part of Trump knew Putin was using him,

but now Trump believes that he has more power than his mentor. He honestly believes he "rules the world".

[choie]

5. They are using each other.

[senseandsensibility]

6. Bingo

I think that's right, but unfortunately Putin is much more clever than trump.

[PatSeg]

8. Yes and Trump is too dumb to see that

He has a bad habit of believing his own BS.

[PatSeg]

7. I agree

They are both users by nature just doing what comes naturally.

[Hornedfrog2000]

13. Oh 100%

Just like he knew he was playing Elon, but Elon is not at Trumps level. I think Elong thought they were actually friends 😑.

[PatSeg]

32. Yep, uses people and tosses them aside

Trump doesn't really have any friends. He used Musk to get what he wanted, but then Musk started to upstage him and brought in too much negative publicity.

All this power has really gone to Trump's head (more so than usual). He thinks he is untouchable. That is when autocrats become the most vulnerable.

[the nelm]

19. Mr. Trump "believes" a lot of BS, but as always, that doesn't make any bit of it true.

Putin has been playing this fool like fine violin...

[GiqueCee]

20. More like...

... a cheap fiddle. Trump is an idiot, but Vlad considered him useful... for now. But quite a few of Putin's useful idiots have lingered too long in front of open windows; defenestration being his favorite method of housecleaning.

[PatSeg]

34. But it is true in his own little brain

which makes him even more dangerous.

I remember seeing clips and photos of Trump and Putin, and it sure looked like Putin was smirking. He's known Trump was a useful idiot for many years. Trump was his way to bring the U.S. down.

[slightlv]

29. If a person believes he rules the world,

acts as if he does rule the world
and no one calls him on it
everyone lets him get away with it
and there are never any negative consequences to show him differently...

does he not in fact, rule the world?

we may say he doesn't, but it looks to me like all the balls are in his court.

[PatSeg]

35. That is how he conducted business

for decades, so why do the same with the presidency? Clearly we have a spoiled toddler in the White House and no one will tell him he is wrong.

[slightlv]

38. Wow...

while reading your response, I got an unbidden image come to mind... that of a wadded up magazine used on trump once! (LOL)

[Ilikepurple]

33. I'm not so sure he doesn't have more power. He's just not as clever

I think it’s been less of a mentorship and more of a puppet show. Trump seems to like alliances, but there’s no reason to maintain them if they no longer bear fruit. He doesn’t really have a reputation for maintaining loyalties. I’m not sure he needs Putin for money or help centralizing his control of the US any more. I’m not even sure if he needs to fear any kompromat. This puppet is ready to lose his strings. I fear all the directions he might go.

[PatSeg]

36. Well, perhaps a mentorship from

Trump's viewpoint, but definitely a puppet show from Putin's.

I think at one point he might have feared kompromat, but now he has the American military and intelligence protecting him, so he might believe he is safe.

"I fear all the directions he might go." Yes, we've already seen he is capable of going to unpredictable extremes and who knows what crazy whim will pop in his head on any given day. He may even do insane crap just to prove that he can.

[Norrrm]

9. Putting money into Trump was the best investment Putin ever made.

?w=800&h=349

[senseandsensibility]

10. That bottom picture!

[mnmoderatedem]

11. that last pic

where trump is smiling at Putin. It's made more telling when you see the whole photo (wish I had it handy) where the other world leaders standing near trump are looking upon Putin with scorn, while trump is smiling.

[FakeNoose]

16. Perhaps it's this photo from 2018?

Somehow Putin was invited to this WWI commemoration, because he's no longer welcome at the G8 (now G7) meetings.

[mnmoderatedem]

23. yep that's the one

the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" never seems more appropriate

[Hornedfrog2000]

12. Wow, rare pushback?

It is only a matter of time before him and putin have an actual disagreement that we all have to deal with...

[mahina]

14. Watch out for open windows Krasnov

What an unholy mess.

[slightlv]

30. No... please! Pay no attention to any open windows around you!

After all, they're just there for the pleasure of fresh air for you, right?

[Ol Janx Spirit]

15. This is a rare moment of honesty from Cheeto the Horrible, and I don't expect it to last long. He will soon realize...

...that his old friend Putin was just fine before Biden made him invade Ukraine. Such a missed opportunity. Out of character really.

Maybe he is finally starting to lose it.

[hadEnuf]

17. It's all an act.

Every time Putin opens his mouth you see Trump's face.

Trump is owned by Putin and it's so frigging obvious that they need a fake spat to make Trump look "tough" on Putin.

[Cha]

21. Exactly.. I was reading to see if anyone

thought like I did.

Traitor is Destroying America and us For Putin.. he's a GD little lapdog for Vlad Putin.

Fuckface is putting on a show... he knows exactly who Putin is.. his Boss.

[slightlv]

31. I don't think that's the way it was in the beginning,

and for a long time after that. I'm fairly certain he still has moments of doubt about his opinions on Putin. But Putin does the two things that win trump over every single time... he gives him all the adulation he wants, and he gifts him with other people's money. The fact he gave him a whole country to play with as he sees fit is just icing on the cake.

[rubbersole]

39. Everything tsf does makes perfect sense if you assume he's doing it at putin's direction.

Destroy the fabric of American society as fast as possible. Chaos on a national scale is the goal. There won't be anything left to pick off the carcass after the 1% get the spoils.
When I first heard tsf's comments dissing putin - I thought there was a crypto scam on the horizon. Saber rattling to destabilize the dollar.

[Cha]

40. Yes it does... makes perfect sense..

"Destroy the fabric of America" like you say.. Get the ICE Monsters out there to Terrorize and disappear People! And, they'll be reedy to Take Over for Marital Law when they want it to happen.

And, Shoot anyone who Resists.. Getting ready for Civil War if Patriots want to Stand up for Democracy.

Want to Grab Canada and Greenland for Strategic World Domination.

If we can see this.. certainly those with more Power Know this, too

[mucifer]

43. Yup and I think trump is more likely to

send weapons to Russia than Ukraine

Just because he says something doesn’t mean he’s gonna do it.

[rubbersole]

44. This is definitely a possibility.

US and Russia teaming (teeming, also) up against NATO to give Europe to putin. The great realignment...
Washington - the Western Hemisphere
Beijing - Asia and the Pacific Rim
Moscow - Europe, Russia and Africa
What could go wrong?

[pat_k]

18. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

[MadameButterfly]

22. He actually thinks he's telling us something we don't already know

[senseandsensibility]

24. That's kind of how I read it too

Just completely clueless.

[MadameButterfly]

27. Like when he says, "Most people don't know this..."

That means he just found out. Doesn't know the rest of us knew it all along.

[purple_haze]

25. Trump aka the puppet simpleton

[JoseBalow]

26. Performative bullshit

I'm not buying his shtick for a second.

[relayerbob]

28. By "us", he means him and his fellow traitors

Since the rest of us realized that Putin wasn't our friend since, oh, I don't know, the day he took office the first time.

[DFW]

41. Maybe Putin is having his LBJ/Cronkite moment

Johnson realized that his attempt at getting the Vietnam situation under control was lost when Walter Cronkite started making negative comments about his handling of it. Johnson supposedly said (not really ever confirmed), "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

Maybe Putin is saying, "if I've lost Trump, I've lost gullible America."

[PuraVidaDreamin]

42. Pooty Poot has the Epstein Files and

The Pee-pee Tapes and much much more.

[Gimpyknee]

48. The FBI and Department of Justice says there are no such files.

[Beowulf42]

45. Who is this "WE"?

[LT Barclay]

46. If only the conservatives would realize the same thing about Rupert Murdoch we could get the country back on track

[Ohioboy]

49. Duh

[Beartracks]

50. "a lot of bullshit" that "turns out to be meaningless" -- You think Trump would have recognized his own M.O. n/t

[The Wizard]

51. Putin is Trump's

role model.