‘The perfect target’: Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years.

This really doesn’t surprise anyone, right? It shouldn’t — most of us have been talking about it on Twitter for at least four years.

“Then, in 1987, Trump visited Moscow and St Petersburg for the first time. Shvets said he was fed KGB talking points and flattered by KGB operatives who floated the idea that he should go into politics.” 2/X

Shortly after, Trump began considering running for POTUS one day.
“For the KGB, it was a charm offensive. They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery.” 3/X
I’ve often discussed how Trump was vulnerable to world leaders and intelligence agencies due to the fact that it’s so easy to get inside his bubble — you just have to satiate his ego and his personal sense of grandiosity.

Say nice things and spend money at his properties. 4/X
“This is what they exploited. They played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality and believed this is the guy who should be the president of the United States one day”

Putin is a master at this. 5/X
He got Trump to spend four years parroting Russian talking points, actively advancing Russian interests, and never saying a negative thing about Russia simply by stroking his ego. 6/X
Russia plays the long game.

Asset cultivation often takes years — sometimes decades — and it’s not as exciting as what you see in the movies. It usually involves painstakingly developing a cover, slowly getting to know a target, and then building on that relationship. 7/X
There’s a lot of speculation whether or not Trump is a witting or unwitting asset, but it really doesn’t matter — either way, Russia managed to coach (or coax) an asset all the way to the highest level of our government, and they spent four years profiting off of it.

8/X
There’s no doubt that it was one of the most successful intelligence ops in history.

(END)

More from Trump

Why am RTg this Rush post? Because @AnjillofLight_ just advised me that @rushlimbaugh is handing his show over to @realDonaldTrump tomorrow 10/9.

Playing both the Rush and Trump Cards

Coincidence the movie The Trump Card is out tomorrow 10/9. https://t.co/RT45TDE8HP


I'm your Huckleberry. I knew it.🤣
https://t.co/gqHfFWfxZO


All the Rush graphics are in linked threads throughout
##FLY##
[OWL]

https://t.co/b9px5Mt3iN


Only the full release of docs can give conclusive evidence.

Dangle Operation
Sanctions are coming
11/4
11/5


Make sure you go to the concession stand and get your popcorn, beverage and candy.
https://t.co/laVxyfS5ax

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So the cryptocurrency industry has basically two products, one which is relatively benign and doesn't have product market fit, and one which is malignant and does. The industry has a weird superposition of understanding this fact and (strategically?) not understanding it.


The benign product is sovereign programmable money, which is historically a niche interest of folks with a relatively clustered set of beliefs about the state, the literary merit of Snow Crash, and the utility of gold to the modern economy.

This product has narrow appeal and, accordingly, is worth about as much as everything else on a 486 sitting in someone's basement is worth.

The other product is investment scams, which have approximately the best product market fit of anything produced by humans. In no age, in no country, in no city, at no level of sophistication do people consistently say "Actually I would prefer not to get money for nothing."

This product needs the exchanges like they need oxygen, because the value of it is directly tied to having payment rails to move real currency into the ecosystem and some jurisdictional and regulatory legerdemain to stay one step ahead of the banhammer.