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THE VIEW FROM HERE - Useful Idiots comprise a significant category of Russian assets. The last few days demonstrate Trump is delusional. One example is his claim that he has settled six wars; in reality Trump has settled no wars. There have been some cease fires, but all the participants deny that Trump was instrumental in the cease fires. Trump is either delusional and believes his has settled the never-ending war between Pakistan and India or he is delusional in believing that everyone believes him. Likewise with his trade agreements. When Trump is unable to reach a trade agreement, he unilaterally imposes tariffs and calls it an agreement.
For world leaders, the takeaway from the February 28th Oval Office blow-up between Trump and Zelenskyy is that Trump is uncontrollably unhinged. There was no provocation in Zelenskyy’s recounting the bad experience with the 2019 cease fire which Zelenskyy had negotiated with Putin, Macron, and German chancellor Angela Merkel, but which Putin violated by attacking Ukraine is 2022. Zelenskyy was pointing out what everyone else knew about diplomacy and Putin by asking, "What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?" That’s when Trump had a mental breakdown and flew into a Narcissistic Rage. Since then, all world leaders treat Trump like a lunatic, always praising and thanking for all the wonderful things he has done. They sit through oval office press conferences stoney faced as Trump tells lie after lie after lie.
Obviously, the World Leaders Know That Trump Is Wacko
Most Americans have come to accept Trump’s mental illness as normal. This column, however, pointed out in December 2016 and many times thereafter that Trump is mentally unstable. The conundrum facing the world now is whether Trump is delusional in his belief that Putin likes him and Putin wants to make a deal “for” him. Trump’s open-mic comment to French President Emmanuel Macron is apropos: “"I think he [Putin] wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds." Yes., Donald; you are crazy.
Trump has been touting that Putin told him during his Friday evening phone conversation that Putin is agreeable a one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy. The transcript of the phone call disagrees. Putin said no such thing. Trump’s belief is all the more dangerous as it shows he fails to grasp the first thing about Putin, to wit, Ukraine is part of Russia and Zelenskyy is, therefore, an illegitimate President. That is why Putin would not allow Trump to have Zelenskyy at the meeting in Alaska. It should truly frighten Americans that Trump allowed Putin to tell the USA who we may or may not invite to a meeting on its own soil!
More frightening than Trump’s failure to grasp why Putin invaded Ukraine and will continue the killing unless he is militarily stopped is Trump’s complete ignorance how government functions and his mind-numbing ignorance America’s constitutional requirements for treaties. Trump believes as President he is the law and that everything is a personal deal between himself and another leader and each alleged agreement is separate and distinct from every other agreement. Saying that America would give guarantees to Ukraine sounds like a five-year-old who still believes in magical thinking. Trump lacks the analytical ability to realize that to be enforceable, the military guarantee would require a treaty, and a 2/3rds vote by the US Senate.
The common law principle that “no man including the king is above the law” is in the Magna Carta (1215 C.E.). King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 because he had departed from that principle which dated back to the codes of the Anglo-Saxon King Alfred the Great of Wessex (847 - 899 C.E.) Furthermore, that legal principle had to be part of the prior Anglo Saxon tradition in order for Alfred to codify it. Trump appears to be so absorbed in his narcissistic grandiosity that nothing outside himself is real. Surely, advisors have tried to enlighten Trump, but his but inner emotional pathology is like a rubber band which snaps back as soon as one lets go.
As needs to be explored in another article, our present Supreme Court likewise rejects our collective 1,200 years of jurisprudence that even the King is not above law. According to Chief Justice Roberts, King Trump has immunity to commit criminal acts if he declares they are part of his duties. King Charles I was beheaded for making that claim.
It Is Possible Trump Did Not Know That the KGB Had Groomed Him to Be a Russian Asset?
Back in 1987 when Trump went on his KGB trip to Russia, all foreign visitors of any note were constantly taped, videoed, and followed. It is vital to realize that the Soviet Ambassador to the United States Yuri Dubinin had singled out and had invited Trump in 1986. Yuri Dubinin already knew about Trump since his daughter Natalia had read about Trump Towers before Dubinin arranged to be seated next to Trump at the luncheon by Leonard Lauder, the businessman son of Estée Lauder. Coincidences happen and so do arranged meetings. At this luncheon, Dubinin invited Trump to Moscow. In a dictatorship, ambassadors do not extend such invitations unless they are so ordered. The KGB had targeted Trump and it planned, supervised, and bugged each and every aspect of Trump’s visit.
Trump stayed [at] a KGB hotel and everyone with whom he came into contact was KGB agent. (See The Hill, February 26, 2025, “Was 40-year-old Trump Recruited by the KGB?”) The KGB’s goal was to recruit more foreign sources. (See Politico Magazine, The Hidden History of Trump’s First Trip to Moscow)
While the KGB seems to have been a rather poorly functioning agency during the 1970s’ and 1980's, it was not irrational. A source did not need to know he was a target or that his new friend was a KGB agent. Ambassador Dubinin did not open his conversation with Trump by asking, “How would you like to be a traitor to America and spy for the Soviet Union?” The KGB is not a charity, and it did not arrange for Trump to stay at a KGB hotel as a good will gesture. Nor did they have the blabber mouth Trump come to Moscow just to find out information which Trump would spill in NYC. The KGB wanted total control and have a variety of “interrogators” and honey pots set up [for] Trump. Before Trump arrived, the Soviets knew he inherited his wealth and that Trump was quite bad with money. They had to realize that Trump would not make a knowing Russian asset. Due to his mental troubles, Trump could not be trusted to keep a secret. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the KGB never revealed the true purpose of Trump’s trip but instead kept up the charade, for years, pretending that they wanted him to build Trump Tower like hotels in Moscow and Leningrad.
Nor Should We Overlook Trump’s Serious Daddy Issues
Donald Trump has a deep Father Complex due to his experience with his father Fred Sr., who emotionally abused both Donald and his older brother Fred Jr. Donald had to watch his father drive Fred Jr. to alcoholism and then into an early grave at 42. Trump has projected his search for the ideal, nurturing father onto Vladimir Putin, whose psychopathy parallels Trump Sr’s manipulative abusive personality. See USA Today for a brilliant article on this issue
Everyone should realize: (1) Trump will never impose sanctions on Putin and (2) Trump will never allow Ukraine to have the military wherewithal to throw Russia out of Ukraine. However, Putin’s initiating this round of nonsense indicates that Putin is facing far more serious consequences from the war than the West realizes. While Europe stopped Trump from forcing Zelenskyy to surrender, they are now embroiled in these absurd discussions about security guarantees. Right now, Ukraine is supposedly protected by the 1994 Security Guarantee which proved worthless. Furthermore, there is no way in Hell the US Senate would ratify such a treaty obligation by a 2/3rd margin.
It will be interesting to see (1) whether Europe can maneuver around Trump’s mental illness, and (2) whether Trump ever realizes that he is Putin’s “Useful Idiot.”
(Richard Lee Abrams is a Los Angeles-based attorney, author, and political commentator. A long-time contributor to CityWatchLA, he is known for his incisive critiques of City Hall and judicial corruption, as well as his analysis of political and constitutional issues. Abrams blends legal insight with historical and philosophical depth to challenge conventional narratives. A passionate defender of civic integrity and transparency, he aims to expose misuse of power and advocate for systemic reform in local government. You may email him at [email protected])
[This article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily those of this publication. Readers should verify facts independently and consider other perspectives.]
