# Is Trump an Asset of Russia (Or Some Other Foreign Power)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 7, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425 "2019-10-07T16:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/61 "2019-10-08T14:51:29Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I’m with this. I have no idea whether Russia has some tangible advantage or compromising materiel over Mr. Trump. It could plausibly be true - or not. I haven’t personally been made aware of evidence demonstrating any advantage Russia has over the President, so I assume the President just has a few misplaced priorities which happen to coincide with Russian interests. In my opinion, it’s the simplest explanation. > > ~Max Just to go on record, and as others have said similar things, this is my feeling too as of now. And the fact that the interests do coincide means that Trump is an asset. It doesn’t necessarily mean he is an _agent_ of Russia, and I wish I had used that term in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/62 "2019-10-08T14:53:45Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > He doesn’t need to. The corruption & collusion has been baked in for years. This is one of the things where I smacked my head and said to myself “Well of course.” What’s the best way to give money to a hotel owner if you want to gain favor as well as keep it above board? You reserve a bunch of rooms, then don’t use them. [https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/02/trump-hotel-empty-rooms-016763](https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/02/trump-hotel-empty-rooms-016763) ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/63 "2019-10-08T15:04:02Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Anyway I’m out before I’m tempted to dogpile. Trump is clearly a stooge. He’s using every tool in his formidable arsenal to block investigation that would reveal such documentary evidence, therefore I find it patently ridiculous for the OP to challenge me, Joe SDMB Poster, to furnish that documentary evidence. I guess it’s a safe arguing position, but what’s the point? Even though you are “out”, I would still ask exactly how you define “stooge”? As for Trump using such tools to hide evidence, no doubt that is true. That does not mean documentary evidence of blackmail is \*necessarily \* there, even though there is that possibility. He might be trying to hide something else. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/64 "2019-10-08T15:19:54Z")
> [@mjmlabs](#): > > Can I prove any of this? Nope. **But if the OP is looking for explanations of how/why Trump may be considered a Russian asset,** my answer, based upon much circumstantial evidence and Trump’s behavior patterns, would be: “He laundered money for Russian mobsters/oligarchs because he needed the payoffs to stay afloat, and Putin knows this because he is the greatest Russian mobster of all. This is why we will never see Trump’s tax returns – well, this and all the other, domestic tax fraud he’s been up to lo these many years. And while the pee tape incident may not have occurred, I’d bet a bottle of mid-shelf that Trump is afraid of _something_ having been videotaped in a hotel room.” What I am looking for is why people believe Trump may be being blackmailed by Putin and/or other foreign powers. Thanks for stating your case using something other than a link and saying, here, go see for yourself. I can’t have a discussion with a link. Now, you say you can’t prove any of that. By the same token, I can’t disprove it. So let’s assume this pretty much nails what Trump has been doing with the Russians all these years. I am not clear if you think Trump behaves in the way he does because he knows Putin has the goods on him and that is enough to explain it, or if Putin is actively blackmailing him. Whatever the case is, it seems that people who have been posting here think the former is more likely. Fine. As I alluded to in the OP, finding direct evidence of blackmail will be difficult, so I am happy to just drop that part if no one else has any comments. Either way. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/65 "2019-10-08T15:25:27Z")
“Your Honor, yes, my client was found in the kitchen of his house, cooking the bodies of his family, the tools of the crime found hidden in his backyard. But nobody _saw_ him butcher them, did they?” “Damn, man. You got me. Case dismissed!” ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/66 "2019-10-08T15:27:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Imagine this… > > … Imagine that the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee may have sources unavailable to rando SDMB posters. > > … Imagine he, like a whistleblower, hears shit coming out of the White House. > > … Imagine he confirms what he’s hearing. > > … Imagine he writes a letter condemning what he’s hearing and asks for reassurances that this is not the developing policy. > > … Imagine that the WH & State Departments are not responding to requests. > > [Lawmaker alarmed with reports US may exit Russia Open Skies Treaty](https://amp.businessinsider.com/us-pulling-out-open-skies-treaty-report-2019-10) > > Imagine all this, FP, and then ask yourself > > _Who knows more: me, doing a quick Google search b4 work, or the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee?_ Don’t imagine this, because you don’t have to. You just did it: You, making a false implication that I think I know more than the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It was something I noticed, and I made no other claims about it. If you want to discuss this without the mockery, then let’s do it. Otherwise, what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/67 "2019-10-08T15:27:51Z")
My worthless two pennies: We are never going to truly know if he is or not. I would imagine that people high in the Defense Department and stuff like that have an idea whats going on, but I don’t think that the nation as a whole benefits from outing him as a slime ball in cahoots with the KGB. If they find something bad or are in the middle of something bad, I would imagine he gets kicked out over some tax stuff or money stuff that ISN’T tied to the KBG or DRPK or some other sinister letters. Or maybe he needs to retire or has a health reason to bail. Why would we advertise that any country with a few tens of thousand dollars can put Larry, Moe, or Curly in the White House? That doesn’t sound wise to me to let it out, true or not. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/68 "2019-10-08T15:29:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “Your Honor, yes, my client was found in the kitchen of his house, cooking the bodies of his family, the tools of the crime found hidden in his backyard. But nobody _saw_ him butcher them, did they?” > > “Damn, man. You got me. Case dismissed!” Being sure this time to put the emoji outside of the quote: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/69 "2019-10-08T15:32:11Z")
> [@Translucent\_Daydream](#): > > My worthless two pennies: > > We are never going to truly know if he is or not. I would imagine that people high in the Defense Department and stuff like that have an idea whats going on, but I don’t think that the nation as a whole benefits from outing him as a slime ball in cahoots with the KGB. > > If they find something bad or are in the middle of something bad, I would imagine he gets kicked out over some tax stuff or money stuff that ISN’T tied to the KBG or DRPK or some other sinister letters. Or maybe he needs to retire or has a health reason to bail. Why would we advertise that any country with a few tens of thousand dollars can put Larry, Moe, or Curly in the White House? That doesn’t sound wise to me to let it out, true or not. Not worthless at all, since you make an actual point. And I would agree that it’s unlikely info would come out now. This seems like on of those instances that if it happened, it will come out only decades from now, say when classified info is released. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/70 "2019-10-08T15:34:44Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Ignoring your mockery, you have linked to a letter essentially arguing that it’s a bad idea to withdraw from Open Skies. Have you bothered to look into why Trump may think this is a good idea, or are you just assuming it’s because of what Putin wants? This is the key question I would ask anyone when something like this comes up. > [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Missed edit window. > > ETA: Being that I’m starting work, I don’t have any more time right now for this, other than to say **the first few links I saw don’t even say how they know Trump wants to do this.** [This](https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2019/10/trump-administration-quietly-moves-to-pull-out-of-treaty-allowing-us-and-allies-to-monitor-russian-military-moves/)for instance says nothing specific. Anyway, will look at it later. > [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Don’t imagine this, because you don’t have to. You just did it: You, making a false implication that I think I know more than the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It was something I noticed, and I made no other claims about it. > > If you want to discuss this without the mockery, then let’s do it. Otherwise, what’s the point? LOL, your second quoted post literally denies the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s letter on what is happening, and then you accuse me of making a “false implication” that you know better than Chairman Engle? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/71 "2019-10-08T16:50:45Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > What I am looking for is why people believe Trump may be being blackmailed by Putin and/or other foreign powers. And you have been given what you are looking for. People people believe Trump may be being blackmailed by Putin and/or other foreign powers because his actions are indistinguishable from someone who is being blackmailed by Putin and/or other foreign powers. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/72 "2019-10-08T16:57:07Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Yes. > > I don’t know if Putin has any material on Trump but there’s a lot of evidence about their connections nonetheless. > > [https://themoscowproject.org/collusion-chapter/chapter-1/](https://themoscowproject.org/collusion-chapter/chapter-1/) > [Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_projects_of_Donald_Trump_in_Russia) > Trump Tower has or had a server connected to Russia: > > [Was a server registered to the Trump Organization communicating with Russia’s Alfa Bank?](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html) > > Trump is selling Florida property to Russian Oligarchs: > > [Trump Sold a $40 Million Estate to a Russian Oligarch for $100 Million—and a Democratic Senator Wants to Know Why](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-sold-40-million-estate-russian-oligarch-100-million-and-democratic-802613) > > Last year, Trump literally said that he trusts Putin over US intelligence agencies. And don’t forget his son bragged on Twitter about his “Russian meeting.” It confounds me that anyone would dismiss this as “Fake News.” There is strong evidence that Trump laundered dirty Rubles via his Atlantic City casino. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/73 "2019-10-08T20:19:33Z")
I doubt that Putin and Trump have conspired to do anything. I do not doubt that Putin has fed Trump bullshit that would encourage Trump to behave (more) stupidly. Putin is too smart to actually engage Trump in a way that Trump might invoke Putin’s name while either proposing something evil or trying to throw Putin under the bus for an action in which Trump was caught. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/74 "2019-10-08T20:33:25Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > There is strong evidence that Trump laundered dirty Rubles via his Atlantic City casino. What’s the evidence? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/75 "2019-10-08T20:41:35Z")
Sometimes the perception overtakes the reality and it becomes a question of what the subjects responses are on the ground. trimp is acting like he is being “kept,” even after it has been pointed out that he needs to go easier on the putin love. The only way to understand it is to prepare for the worst and investigate his behavior down to the last twitch. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/76 "2019-10-08T20:46:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What’s the evidence? [FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million for Significant and Long Standing Anti-Money Laundering Violations](https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-significant-and-long) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/77 "2019-10-08T20:52:06Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > [FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million for Significant and Long Standing Anti-Money Laundering Violations](https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-significant-and-long) Pfft, that’s only evidence if you believe it. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/78 "2019-10-08T20:54:00Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I doubt that Putin and Trump have conspired to do anything. > I do not doubt that Putin has fed Trump bullshit that would encourage Trump to behave (more) stupidly. > > Putin is too smart to actually engage Trump in a way that Trump might invoke Putin’s name while either proposing something evil or trying to throw Putin under the bus for an action in which Trump was caught. turnp is not strong or dependable enough to enter into a conspiracy with putin. But the “feeding him BS” explanation isn’t adequate. There is a middle way and it is all about trpnis ambition to be a “populist” leader and his naivete about a lot of other things. he is emulating and chasing the populist anti-democratic movements all over the world under putins sponsorship. He is bound to an electoral base who are putins base too in effect. Putin feeds him BS that strokes his narcissism about being the disruptor of the US government. DT has made many many antidemocratic statements since we have known about his “friendship” with vlad. This feels like coercion/pressure and not just feeding bs to an idiot. He gestures towards this constantly, (Pushing nato leaders out of the way etc. etc.) like he is obsessive compulsive. Trumps base is putins base, for the US. It is his only religion. He is thinking of them all the time, and it’s guiding his bad decisions one after the other. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/79 "2019-10-08T21:00:11Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > [FinCEN Fines Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort $10 Million for Significant and Long Standing Anti-Money Laundering Violations](https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-fines-trump-taj-mahal-casino-resort-10-million-significant-and-long) And [this CNN article](https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-taj-mahal/index.html) ties the money laundering to Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425/80 "2019-10-08T21:49:37Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > And [this CNN article](https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/trump-taj-mahal/index.html) ties the money laundering to Russia. FWIW, **HurricaneDitka** asked for evidence of money laundering in a different thread a year and a half ago. > [@Trump's ongoing collusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-ongoing-collusion/809196/35): > > Same question for you: what’s your basis for this belief? He was provided these exact links (and more) by these exact posters and never acknowledged receiving them or reading them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-an-asset-of-russia-or-some-other-foreign-power/841425.md?page=5)