Trump flattered and made excuses for Putin throughout his 2016 campaign, and called on Russia to assist him, “Russia, if you’re listening …” Now we know why! Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has confirmed that Trump — though he lied about it constantly — and his attorney, Michael Cohen, were involved in negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, financed through Russian banks, right up until the 2016 election. To secure Putin’s assistance, Trump intended to gift Putin with the $50 million penthouse suite.

In Helsinki we saw a weak Trump grovel to Putin and believe Putin’s word over the best evidence gathered by all 17 United States intelligence agencies. Since becoming president, he has fulfilled most of Putin’s dreams! He has weakened NATO and our European alliances, and his tariffs have allowed Russian farmers, not American farmers, to sell soybeans to China. He is allowing asbestos to be used in new construction. In gratitude, the Russian asbestos company Uralasbest is putting his picture on their packaging. He now wants to build his wall out of steel slats — the steel to be made by an American steel company Evraz, a company owned by Russian oligarchs.

Trump cares nothing about this country. His only interest is in using his office to further his own family’s business interests, and to protect himself from prosecution. The shutdown is a distraction. He is bankrupting this country and selling out our national security to do it. Before Trump, only something like 8 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Russia. That number has exploded, proving that Trump supporters are like cult followers in that only what “der leader” says is truth regardless of facts or evidence.

The Trump administration and its enablers among Republican senators who received Russian money funneled through the NRA (see Maria Butina) are now engaged in efforts to end sanctions placed on select Russian oligarchs or companies. Oleg Daripasca’s aluminum company Rusal is one of those companies. Paul Manafort owed Daripasca tens of millions of dollars. Though so broke he and his partner lied to banks to allow him to secure loans to maintain his lifestyle, Manafort volunteered to work for the Trump campaign for free, almost certainly to try to pay off his debt to Daripasca through favors to Russia he likely believed he could elicit through Trump. Trump, knowing Manafort had unsavory Russian connections (even Manafort’s daughter said their money was “blood money”) or, perhaps, because of those connections, made him campaign chairman. While he was chairman, he managed to change the Republican Party platform to be more pleasing to Putin regarding Ukraine. We know Michael Flynn, also doubtless hoping to use connections to Russian oligarchs to make a personal fortune for himself, was promising Russian oligarchs sanctions Obama put on Russia for interfering in the 2016 election would be lifted once Trump was in office. There is evidence Trump has laundered money for criminals since the 1980s. “House of Trump, House of Putin.”

Lonna Gooden Van Horn

Northwood