Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur today. Against the backdrop of multiple questions to him about the outcome of their discussion, let us first discuss the problem being avoided.
In the mind of President Putin, and in the growing awareness of the American electorate, the President of the United States does not control the Intelligence Community. It is entirely possible for the USIC to take America deeper toward war despite the President and people of America not wanting that to happen. Putin is simply prepared for that outcome.
This reality explains a dynamic where President Trump engages with President Putin in an effort to stop the war in Ukraine, yet President Putin continues the war in Ukraine; because ultimately he knows President Trump does not control the elements that facilitate the Ukraine military.
People struggle to accept this dynamic. However, I would remind everyone that right now YOU are paying for the entire government of Ukraine to exist. Including the Ukraine govt payrolls, retirement benefits, healthcare and operational budget of Ukraine overall.
Americans do not want to pay for that. President Trump does not want to pay for that. Yet, here we are, paying for that.
The same inertia process applies to the literal Ukraine war and conflict with Russia.
You might not want it. President Trump might not want it. Yet, here again we are providing weapons, intelligence, satellite communication, personnel and systems for the war.
This is the reality of the situation regardless of your/my willingness to accept it. This reality is what President Vladimir Putin discusses and accepts.
The problem for President Trump is not that this reality exists; the bigger political problem for President Trump is that people are increasingly becoming aware of this reality.
Now, many people are recently arguing against this reality. However, these are the same voices who previously stated President Trump could unilaterally declassify information within the same silo process that is designed to control his declassification authority. Empirically, and in reality, these voices are wrong.
Something needs to change. That something is generally that President Trump has to either: 1. admit publicly he does not control the U.S. Intelligence Community (very ugly); or 2. take control of that intelligence community (even uglier).
In this element of consideration you would be well served to insert the recent experience of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; who, intentionally or not, opened the pandora’s box containing this issue, and look what happened to her.
There was a reason DNI Tulsi Gabbard sat silently recently in the very public Cabinet meeting. I will return to this in a moment.
♦ President Trump does not have control over the USIC activity in Ukraine. If he did, he would have been fully aware of the drone strikes against the Russian strategic bomber fleet before it was carried out. By his own admission he did not know.
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