[ExI] Inflation and the 2024 election

Tue Oct 20 03:16:05 UTC 2026

On Mon, Oct 19, 2026 at 12:10 PM John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>> Incidentally, Zelensky has an amazing insight into Trump's relationship
>> with Putin. It was reported in the Washington Post. I can cut and paste if
>> anyone lacks access and wants to see it.
>>
>
>
> *Yeah I'd like to see it. *
>
> "Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he told the Financial Times
<https://www.ft.com/content/4d79b52f-1f0d-4739-82ab-7ecfb4251326?shareType=nongift>
last week that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats and the
uber-wealthy: “He speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such
people and he respects such people "

> Zelensky has figured out why Trump loves Putin
>
> The Ukrainian president shares a compelling explanation after Washington
> abandons Kyiv — again.
> October 19, 2026 at 7:15 a.m. EDTToday at 7:15 a.m. EDT
>
> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the U.N. General Assembly in New
> York on Sept. 23. (Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images)
>
> Donald Trump’s second-term relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky got off to
> a disastrous start. On Feb. 19, 2025, the U.S. president blasted
> <https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114031332924234939> the
> courageous Ukrainian leader as a “modestly successful comedian” and a
> “Dictator without Elections” who “has done a terrible job.” Nine days
> later, Trump berated Zelensky in the Oval Office
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/28/trump-ukraine-russia-zelensky/>
> for not ending the war that Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin had started.
> “You don’t have the cards,” Trump told him before temporarily suspending
> U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
> What will happen in the 2026 midterms? Sign up for Margin of Victory
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/margin-of-victory/>
>
> European leaders rushed to repair the breach. Zelensky signed a deal
> <https://www.cfr.org/articles/united-states-and-ukraine-ink-minerals-deal>
> giving the United States a stake in Ukraine’s mineral rights and agreed to an
> immediate ceasefire
> <https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/world/ukraine-us-talks-saudi-arabia-intl>
> if Russia reciprocated. Those efforts seemed to bear fruit. At the July
> NATO summit in Turkey, Trump said
> <https://x.com/lrozen/status/2074845943275356191> Zelensky had “done an
> amazing job” and had been “very effective.” As recently as Sept. 22, they
> had a friendly meeting in New York, with Trump saying he had approved
> <https://kyivindependent.com/trump-made-final-decision-on-granting-ukraine-patriot-licenses-zelensky-says/>
> Ukraine’s request to manufacture its own Patriot missiles.
>
> This month, however, everything went haywire — again. On Oct. 9, Trump had
> a phone call
> <https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-putin-phone-call-with-trump-downplays-immediate-ukraine-talks-2026-10-09/>
> with Putin, after which he announced the U.S. would buy roughly 36 million
> barrels of Russian diesel
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/09/trump-says-putin-will-export-diesel-bid-lower-prices/>.
> That will have little effect
> <https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-strikes-deal-with-putin-for-russian-diesel-15751436?st=kibnfw&reflink=article_email_share>
> on soaring prices, but it will pour hundreds of millions of dollars into
> Russia’s economy. So much for the recently passed Lindsey O. Graham
> Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which authorizes the president to toughen
> sanctions on Russia and to impose tariffs on countries that import its oil
> and gas. On Friday, Trump announced he was waiving the law’s provisions
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/17/trump-signs-executive-order-waiving-sanctions-against-russia/>
> on Moscow, thereby flouting the will of a large bipartisan congressional
> majority.
>
> Not for the first time, it seems the wily Putin has manipulated a
> credulous Trump. The U.S. president is now blaming Ukrainian strikes on
> Russian refineries for the soaring oil prices that are exacerbating his
> political woes. Never mind that his war in Iran is the actual culprit. If
> Republicans lose the midterms, Trump has a ready-made scapegoat.
>
> Zelensky reacted with understandable anger to the U.S. decision to
> subsidize the Russian war machine, which is slaughtering Ukrainian
> civilians every day. (Note that Trump condemns Houthi attacks
> <https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117434446535757477> on Riyadh,
> Saudi Arabia, but not Russian attacks on Kyiv.) “It is certainly not how
> partners should act,” Zelensky told reporters
> <https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/2108657393848467779?s=20>. “And, in
> my view, it is a weak decision ... made by strong partners.” Trump replied by
> suggesting <https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/2108965640656625701?s=20>
> it’s “time for Ukraine to get a new president.” When asked if Russia needs
> one, too, he changed the subject
> <https://x.com/BulwarkClips/status/2110035496143384717?s=20>.
>
> Trump on Thursday told Newsmax
> <https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/2111002913464062048?s=46> that Zelensky
> is “not a good guy for us to deal with” and “more difficult” than Putin. He
> vastly exaggerated the amount of aid the U.S. has given to Ukraine. It is
> roughly $195 billion
> <https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-much-us-aid-going-ukraine>, not $350
> billion, and much of the money has gone to U.S. defense contractors
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/29/ukraine-military-aid-american-economy-boost/>.
> Trump also claimed that the U.S. had provided “massive amounts” of
> Tomahawks to Ukraine, depleting the military’s arsenal. The Pentagon has
> provided no such cruise missiles
> <https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2025-11/news/trump-rejects-tomahawk-missile-sale-ukraine&ved=2ahUKEwjYxNa6gMGXAxXyBYAAHTC6OpIQFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VTrg5xd65yhsrd5XwBvZr>
> .
>
> Ukrainian officials told reporters that U.S. officials were threatening to
> cut off
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/14/us-warnings-sow-confusion-alarm-ukraine-over-intelligence-starlink-access/>
> intelligence sharing and weapons sales if they didn’t stop hitting Russian
> oil refineries. The speed of Starlink and Starshield, Elon Musk’s satellite
> WiFi services, was degraded last week, making it difficult for Ukrainian
> forces to stop Russian terror attacks on schools, hospitals and apartment
> buildings. It’s still not clear exactly what happened, but the Telegraph
> <https://x.com/Barnes_Joe/status/2111156654850847230> reported that Musk
> proposed the move to Trump, who agreed. Zelensky said Sunday that
> intelligence sharing had resumed but that internet restrictions were still
> in effect.
> holds up Patriot missiles for Ukraine
>
> The Ukrainian president did agree to suspend attacks on Russian oil
> facilities for a few days after Trump claimed there would be a moratorium on
> such <https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117422699218841250>
> strikes from both sides. But Putin continued to target Ukrainian energy
> infrastructure in a bid to turn off the lights and heat over the winter, so
> Ukraine resumed its own strikes
> <https://www.ft.com/content/734dad42-2eef-4a70-8947-c73997e49fd1?syn-25a6b1a6=1>.
> Zelensky said his country would stop only if allies provide more air
> defense missiles <https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/2111072415430390028?s=46>.
>
> What explains Trump’s bizarre affinity for Putin? The Russian warmonger is
> standing in the way of his goal of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Shouldn’t
> Trump be mad at him? I have long since given up believing in conspiratorial
> explanations of the relationship. If evidence for some nefarious tie
> existed, it would’ve been uncovered by now, especially after four years of
> Democratic control of the executive branch.
>
> Zelensky had a more compelling theory when he told the Financial Times
> <https://www.ft.com/content/4d79b52f-1f0d-4739-82ab-7ecfb4251326?shareType=nongift>
> last week that Trump simply has a fondness for autocrats and the
> uber-wealthy: “He speaks about it openly and loudly that he loves such
> people and he respects such people.”
>
> It hadn’t occurred to me that Trump views Putin as a fellow billionaire,
> but it’s true. Putin’s net worth has been estimated at $70 billion to
> $200 billion
> <https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-world/putins-net-worth-rivals-elon-musk-cobweb-bank-accounts-assets-hides-full-value-expert-says>.
> Trump, who made more than $2 billion
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/06/30/trump-earned-over-1-billion-cryptocurrency-coin-ventures-last-year/>
> last year, no doubt respects anyone who manages to make so much money in
> office while clinging to power for so long. He seldom has a cross word for
> any dictator, while regularly berating democratic allies. Whatever the
> explanation, Trump’s willingness to do the bidding of a murderous despot is
> despicable and dangerous.
>
> Luckily, Ukraine has become less dependent on U.S. support thanks in part
> to Europe’s stepping forward to fill the vacuum. That means Trump has less
> leverage to force Zelensky into a bad deal with Russia. You might say Trump
> doesn’t hold the cards anymore. Yet by cutting off Starlink service and
> intelligence sharing, he can ensure that many more Ukrainians will die in
> their fight against Russian aggression. Instead of ending the war, Trump is
> prolonging it.
>
>> Keith
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *John K Clark*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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