Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
My book, “Proud to be American”, is on sale for $16.95 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It contains 68 articles in nine categories with 70 photos. It has a provocative introduction and conclusion and provides many analyses that you cannot get from Mainstream Media.
Why in the world would Vladimir Putin be a Trumpster? Putin used to want a weak America, an appeaser! Trump obviously is not a weak leader so why does Putin like Donald Trump being President of the United State s? I believe that China is part of the answer to that question and Trump’s assertive, “take-charge” personality is the other part. China is on the move. Until recently, its economy routinely grew at about 10%/year. Its military is expanding exponentially and China has nuclear weapons. It also has approximately 1.3 billion people, about 4 times t population of the United States (Russia’s population is 143 million). On the other hand, Russia and China share a border of thousands of miles, Mother Russia needs a big, strong friend in the event its neighbor to the south becomes aggressive towards it, which China’s phenomenal military build-up makes a distinct possibility. Moreover, China is concerned about Russia, especially after the Russian militarily annexed Crimea. President Trump is making the U.S. very strong again which I believe Putin believes he might need at some point, a very strong America, to counter a Chinese threat to Russia. On the other hand, Kamala Harris’ base (her voters) would not have allowed her to strengthen the military, even if she wanted to do just that. To place each country in perspective, it’s important to know where each country stands insofar as military spending. Here’s the stats on annual military spending (for 2024) by the three players: U.S.: $824 billion; China, $471 billion; Russia, $140 billion.
When you look on the globe at military conflicts around the world, the common denominator is conflict between countries that share a common border. Russia and China share about 3,000 miles of border, therefore, even though the U.S. and Russia have not been friends in the past, they now share a common cause (fear of China) which I believe is causing Russia to want closer ties with a strong United States and to keep China a friend rather than an enemy.
While both Russia and China are communist countries and they both have been behaving aggressively (China by building islands in the South China Sea and placing military installations on them), they have had disputes over their common border. Beginning March 2, 1969, border skirmishes began and lasted for months with thousands killed. In the early seventies, President Nixon visited and befriended China to counter the Soviet Russian threat. It worked and from then until now, China and the United States, though competing economically, were on relatively good terms. Russia, on the other hand, has been an adversary until recently. President Trump knows that, so when he compliments Putin by saying that he is a strong leader, he means that he puts his country first, which is what President Trump also does for America. President Trump and President Putin get along very well because they understand each other.. If their relationship grows even stronger, both the U.S. and Russia will be a lot better off, as well as Ukraine, Europe, and the world.
