Is Donald Trump Getting the Mushroom Treatment on Russia?

Mushrooms reportedly are grown in the dark and covered in manure. So, to ask if Trump is getting the mushroom treatment is a colloquial way of suggesting he is being deliberately kept ignorant, misled, or given false information about the war in Ukraine. His Sunday outburst, describing Putin as crazy and accusing Putin of launching drones and missiles into Ukraine for no reason, was bizarre and disturbing. His remarks demonstrated that he had no knowledge of why Russia launched that attack and, in response to a reporter’s question about the assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin, Trump admitted he knew nothing of that.

This can only mean one of two things — i.e., Trump honestly had no knowledge about recent Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia or he was lying. I think he truly did not know… he was just told that Putin bombed the crap out of Ukraine and killed lots of civilians without justification.

Trump doubled down on his obtuse Sunday comment with this gem on Monday:

Putin doesn’t understand that if it weren’t for me, a lot of really bad things would have happened to Russia by now, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire

The combination of narcissism, hubris and ignorance on the part of Trump is truly staggering. I think he really believes this. He is living in a fantasy world and genuinely believe he is in a position to compel Russia to obey his diktats. He fails to understand that by allowing military operations against Russia to continue he risks World War III.

The Russian response to Trump tells me that they understand that they are dealing with a narcissistic individual devoid of curiosity, who is driven by emotion. Instead of pushing back against his outrageous, specious claims, Putin and his team opted for the high road and demonstrated world-class diplomacy.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs aide, said this about Trump’s comments:

Trump is misinformed about the war, he only knows about Russian retaliatory strikes … not the Ukrainian attacks. Trump only knows the retaliatory measures that we are taking, and he does not fully understand that we are striking exclusively at military infrastructure or the military-industrial complex.

Ushakov’s remarks were echoed by Putin’s spokesman, Peshkov. The Russians may have a valid reason to believe that Trump’s subordinates — at least some of them — are giving him false information and not providing a full picture of the events that led up to Russia’s retaliation last Saturday and Sunday. I did a recent interview of Colonel Doug MacGregor on my Counter Currents channel, and he described witnessing Department of Defense officials ignore Trump’s order to initiate a withdrawal from Afghanistan. And Trump, instead of going to the Pentagon and demanding action, sat back and did nothing.

So it is not an impossibility that Trump’s national security team and the CIA are withholding key information about why Putin hit Ukraine over the weekend, and are playing this card in order to incite Trump to continue funding Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Russians are acting as if nothing happened and are following diplomatic protocol. Foreign Minister Lavrov, for example, spoke with Rubio and the Turkish Foreign Minister today to secure their support for Russia’s proposal to hold talks with Ukraine on 2 June in Istanbul.

▪️Lavrov informed the head of the US State Department about Moscow’s preparation of specific proposals for the next round of direct negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.

▪️In a conversation with the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State emphasized Trump’s focus on a speedy end to the Ukrainian conflict.

▪️Lavrov and the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry also discussed the situation around the Ukrainian crisis by telephone, the Foreign Ministry reported.

I think that Putin and his team know exactly how to handle Donald Trump… they will flatter him and cater to his narcissism. I think my conjecture about how Putin will approach Trump in their next conversation is valid — i.e., Putin will explain to Trump the events leading up to his decision to launch drones and missiles in response to a massive Ukrainian attack and will note that he, like Trump, faced an assassination attempt. What Putin won’t do is blame Trump and the CIA for the failed attempt to kill him. He will get the message across without backing Trump into a corner.

If you have never watched Oliver Stone’s 2016 interview of Vladimir Putin — it is on YouTube in four parts — I strongly encourage you to do so. You will gain some keen insights into how Putin responds to threats and crises. Made me wish he was President of the United States.