Trump's Former US national security adviser HR McMaster claims Vladimir Putin manipulated Donald Trump’s ‘ego and insecurities’

[essentialsaltes]

The bold assessment of Trump’s fealty to Putin comes in McMaster’s book At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, published by HarperCollins and arriving on 27 August. The Guardian obtained a copy.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster recalls saying in the memoir covering the turbulent 457 days the now retired general served as national security adviser from February 2017 until he was effectively fired by tweet in April 2018.

While other western leaders were beginning to formulate a strong response to the assassination attempt [on Sergei Skripal, a Russian former intelligence officer, and his daughter], McMaster says, Trump sat in the White House fawning over a New York Post article with the headline: “Putin heaps praise on Trump, pans US politics”. Trump, according to the book, wrote an appreciative note on the article with a black Sharpie and asked McMaster “to get the clipping to Putin”.

“On Putin and Russia, I had been swimming upstream with the president from the beginning,” writes McMaster, whose successor as national security adviser, John Bolton, also ended up falling out with the president and went on to become one of numerous former administration officials to condemn Trump’s re-election effort.

see also:

Everything you need to know about Trump's new national security adviser HR McMaster

Everything you need to know about Trump's new national security adviser

Good man. Hero of Battle of 73 Easting. Genius of Tal Afar. Welcome back to the DC sewer.

 

[Whyayeman]

The bold assessment of Trump’s fealty to Putin comes in McMaster’s book At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, published by HarperCollins and arriving on 27 August. The Guardian obtained a copy.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster recalls saying in the memoir covering the turbulent 457 days the now retired general served as national security adviser from February 2017 until he was effectively fired by tweet in April 2018.

While other western leaders were beginning to formulate a strong response to the assassination attempt [on Sergei Skripal, a Russian former intelligence officer, and his daughter], McMaster says, Trump sat in the White House fawning over a New York Post article with the headline: “Putin heaps praise on Trump, pans US politics”. Trump, according to the book, wrote an appreciative note on the article with a black Sharpie and asked McMaster “to get the clipping to Putin”.

“On Putin and Russia, I had been swimming upstream with the president from the beginning,” writes McMaster, whose successor as national security adviser, John Bolton, also ended up falling out with the president and went on to become one of numerous former administration officials to condemn Trump’s re-election effort.

see also:

This is a shocking revelation, though nobody should be very surprised. The Skripal assassination attempt was an abject failure, but there was a death when the novochok left behind was discovered by an Englishman. A police officer almost died as a result of the investigation..

The British security forces showed that Russian agents were responsible and most of the world condemned the act. Trump had nothing to say about it. When has he ever criticised Putin?

 

[Ana the Ist]

The bold assessment of Trump’s fealty to Putin comes in McMaster’s book At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, published by HarperCollins and arriving on 27 August. The Guardian obtained a copy.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster recalls saying in the memoir covering the turbulent 457 days the now retired general served as national security adviser from February 2017 until he was effectively fired by tweet in April 2018.

While other western leaders were beginning to formulate a strong response to the assassination attempt [on Sergei Skripal, a Russian former intelligence officer, and his daughter], McMaster says, Trump sat in the White House fawning over a New York Post article with the headline: “Putin heaps praise on Trump, pans US politics”. Trump, according to the book, wrote an appreciative note on the article with a black Sharpie and asked McMaster “to get the clipping to Putin”.

“On Putin and Russia, I had been swimming upstream with the president from the beginning,” writes McMaster, whose successor as national security adviser, John Bolton, also ended up falling out with the president and went on to become one of numerous former administration officials to condemn Trump’s re-election effort.

see also:

The whole "Trump-Russia" thing is a left wing conspiracy theory.

The CIA assessed that Putin wanted Hillary in the WH because she's weaker and more predictable.

 

[wing2000]

“Putin, a ruthless former KGB operator, played to Trump’s ego and insecurities with flattery,” McMaster writes.

“Putin had described Trump as ‘a very outstanding person, talented, without any doubt’, and Trump had revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his affinity for strongmen, and his belief that he alone could forge a good relationship with Putin.

Trump is an easy read.

 

[JosephZ]

The CIA assessed that Putin wanted Hillary in the WH because she's weaker and more predictable.

Do you have a source to support this claim?

 

[ozso]

The bold assessment of Trump’s fealty to Putin comes in McMaster’s book At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, published by HarperCollins and arriving on 27 August. The Guardian obtained a copy.

“After over a year in this job, I cannot understand Putin’s hold on Trump,” McMaster recalls saying in the memoir covering the turbulent 457 days the now retired general served as national security adviser from February 2017 until he was effectively fired by tweet in April 2018.

While other western leaders were beginning to formulate a strong response to the assassination attempt [on Sergei Skripal, a Russian former intelligence officer, and his daughter], McMaster says, Trump sat in the White House fawning over a New York Post article with the headline: “Putin heaps praise on Trump, pans US politics”. Trump, according to the book, wrote an appreciative note on the article with a black Sharpie and asked McMaster “to get the clipping to Putin”.

“On Putin and Russia, I had been swimming upstream with the president from the beginning,” writes McMaster, whose successor as national security adviser, John Bolton, also ended up falling out with the president and went on to become one of numerous former administration officials to condemn Trump’s re-election effort.

see also:

When I saw just the title of this, I correctly guessed ahead of time this person had a book for sale.

 

[Ana the Ist]

When I saw just the title of this, I correctly guessed ahead of time this person had a book for sale.

He probably interviewed Putin for his side of the story.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Do you have a source to support this claim?

Yeah.

Secret Report: How CIA's Brennan Overruled Dissenting Analysts Who Concluded Russia Favored Hillary

Above, ex-CIA officer Julia Gurganus with former deputy Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Brennan allies who worked on the Trump-Russia intelligence community assessment. By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigationsS

www.realclearinvestigations.com

Basically, the regular analysis following the procedures in place had Putin favoring Hillary....but it was changed by a few higher ups to justify an investigation into Trump.

 

[wing2000]

"And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un, who are rooting for Trump. Who are rooting for Trump.

Because, you know, they know — they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself."

Full Transcript of Kamala Harris’s Democratic Convention Speech

The vice president’s remarks lasted roughly 35 minutes on the final night of the convention in Chicago.

www.nytimes.com

Spot on.

 

[RileyG]

“Putin, a ruthless former KGB operator, played to Trump’s ego and insecurities with flattery,” McMaster writes.

“Putin had described Trump as ‘a very outstanding person, talented, without any doubt’, and Trump had revealed his vulnerability to this approach, his affinity for strongmen, and his belief that he alone could forge a good relationship with Putin.

Trump is an easy read.

I have a feeling that never happened.

 

[Ana the Ist]

"And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-un, who are rooting for Trump. Who are rooting for Trump.

Because, you know, they know — they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself."

Full Transcript of Kamala Harris’s Democratic Convention Speech

The vice president’s remarks lasted roughly 35 minutes on the final night of the convention in Chicago.

www.nytimes.com

Spot on.

It's actually a sign that either she's dumb...or her audience is.

‘Iranian agent’ tried to hire hitmen for possible assassination of Trump, other US politicians: feds

A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged by the Justice Department with plotting to carry out political assassinations – a scheme which prompted the Secret Service to finally boos…

nypost.com

Iran is literally trying to kill Trump. That's according to the government that Harris apparently "works" in. I know that a lot of people have their heads permanently lodged in a hole somewhere but it's obvious that our enemies are only concerned about 1 candidate this election....and it's not Harris.

 

[essentialsaltes]

In his blistering, insightful account of his time in the Trump White House, McMaster describes meetings in the Oval Office as “exercises in competitive sycophancy” during which Trump’s advisers would flatter the president by saying stuff like, “Your instincts are always right” or, “No one has ever been treated so badly by the press.” Meanwhile, Trump would say “outlandish” things like, “Why don’t we just bomb the drugs?” in Mexico or, “Why don’t we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?”

[Previously] McMaster ... avoided direct criticisms of his former commander in chief [regarding Jan 6th].

By contrast, in his new book, McMaster writes that in the aftermath of his 2020 electoral defeat, Trump’s “ego and love of self… drove him to abandon his oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ a president’s highest obligation.” McMaster adds, “The attack on the US Capitol stained our image, and it will take a long-term effort to restore what Donald Trump, his enablers, and those they encouraged took from us that day.”

 

[The Barbarian]

Until now, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has held his fire about his stint in the Trump White House. McMaster served with distinction in key American conflicts of the past decades: the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghan War, but as McMaster recounts in his new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” in some ways, his most challenging tour as a soldier was his last one: serving as the national security adviser to a notoriously mercurial president.

In his blistering, insightful account of his time in the Trump White House, McMaster describes meetings in the Oval Office as “exercises in competitive sycophancy” during which Trump’s advisers would flatter the president by saying stuff like, “Your instincts are always right” or, “No one has ever been treated so badly by the press.” Meanwhile, Trump would say “outlandish” things like, “Why don’t we just bomb the drugs?” in Mexico or, “Why don’t we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?”

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/25/politics/mcmaster-trump-book-account/index.html

One telling fact about Donald Trump is how many people who have worked for him think so poorly of him.

 

[The Barbarian]

It's actually a sign that either she's dumb...or her audience is.

Trump has a weakness for autocrats. And he's easy to fool by flattery.

McMaster felt it was his “duty” to point out to Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin “was not and would never be Trump’s friend.” McMaster warned Trump that Putin is “the best liar in the world” and would try to “play” Trump to get what he wanted and manipulate him with “ambiguous promises of a ‘better relationship.’”

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/25/politics/mcmaster-trump-book-account/index.html

Iran is literally trying to kill Trump. That's according to the government that Harris apparently "works" in. I know that a lot of people have their heads permanently lodged in a hole somewhere but it's obvious that our enemies are only concerned about 1 candidate this election....and it's not Harris.

Well, they are concerned that he might lose:

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. has not seen Russia shift on its preference from previous U.S. presidential elections on who it prefers to win this year, a U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday, indicating that Moscow again favors Republican Donald Trump.
The official, briefing reporters on U.S. election security, did not name the former president and presumptive Republican nominee when asked who Moscow wants as the next U.S. president.

But he indicated that Russia favored Trump, saying the U.S. intelligence community had not changed its assessments from previous elections.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/russia-starting-try-influence-us-voters-says-us-intelligence-official-2024-07-09/

Iran has a different reason to hate Trump.
The Iranian threat stemmed from Tehran’s longstanding desire to take revenge for the strike ordered by Mr. Trump in January 2020 that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the Iranian security and intelligence commander responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops in Iraq over the years. Reported Iranian threats against Trump administration officials like Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, and John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, resulted in government security details even after they left office.

U.S. Detected Potential Iranian Plot to Kill Trump Separate From Saturday’s Shooting

American intelligence agencies were tracking an Iranian threat even before the attack on former President Donald J. Trump. But officials said the two were unrelated.

www.nytimes.com

For some reason, Trump doesn't kowtow to the Iranians the way he does to the Russians and North Koreans. It's all transactional for Trump; Iran apparently has nothing to offer. Taking out Sulemani was actually a pretty good thing; it made it clear that Iranian-backed attacks on American troops might result in consequences for Iran directly.

 

[wing2000]

It's actually a sign that either she's dumb...or her audience is.

‘Iranian agent’ tried to hire hitmen for possible assassination of Trump, other US politicians: feds

A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged by the Justice Department with plotting to carry out political assassinations – a scheme which prompted the Secret Service to finally boos…

nypost.com

Iran is literally trying to kill Trump. That's according to the government that Harris apparently "works" in. I know that a lot of people have their heads permanently lodged in a hole somewhere but it's obvious that our enemies are only concerned about 1 candidate this election....and it's not Harris.

Iran is not Russia nor N Korea ...but hey, if Trump gets another term, maybe Iran leaders can try a different approach - flattery.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Iran is not Russia nor N Korea.

"And know this: I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.

I thought it was obvious why I brought up Iran. Maybe you forgot what you posted.

Iran clearly sees one president as stronger and a bigger concern than the other....and it's not Harris. She wasn't even a good prosecutor.

 

[The Barbarian]

Iran clearly sees one president as stronger and a bigger concern than the other

They also thought it was a good idea to shoot at US aircraft. Remember how that turned out? They aren't the sharpest pack of mullahs in the mosque.

 

[The Barbarian]

She wasn't even a good prosecutor.

A lot of fraudsters, sexual predators, and other criminals would disagree with you. She was very good at putting them away. She's the perfect pick for the job right now...

 

[Ana the Ist]

A lot of fraudsters, sexual predators, and other criminals would disagree with you.

A lot would agree with me. I looked up her conviction rate when poster after poster who blindly followed the Dem propaganda because she has no real accomplishments....so they repeat this idea that she was a good prosecutor like sheep.

She had a 55% conviction rate at a time when the average prosecutor had an 85% conviction rate.

So forget good...she wasn't even mediocre. She wasted a lot of time and money either prosecuting innocent people or just plain failing.

 

[The Barbarian]

A lot of fraudsters, sexual predators, and other criminals would disagree with you. She was very good at putting them away. She's the perfect pick for the job right now...

A lot would agree with me. I looked up her conviction rate when poster after poster who blindly followed the Dem propaganda because she has no real accomplishments....so they repeat this idea that she was a good prosecutor like sheep.
She had a 55% conviction rate at a time when the average prosecutor had an 85% conviction rate.

The fact that you won't support your claim with evidence is telling. You've been fooled again. Turns out,

The big picture: Harris is pointing to her time as a district attorney and California Attorney General as a point of contrast against former President Trump, the GOP nominee who is a convicted felon.

State of play: It's a risky strategy as Harris has consistently faced criticism from some progressives who accused her of being too tough on crime and helped derail her 2020 presidential campaign.

• This time around, she is betting it will help her against Trump.
• "I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain," she said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin this last week. "So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type."

Yes, but: The Trump campaign has simultaneously accused Harris of being weak on crime and a San Francisco "liberal" — a classic GOP attack against a Democrat.

Reality check: The violent crime rate per 100,000 residents in California dropped by 10% during Harris's first four years in office as the state's attorney general, according to an Axios review of FBI crime data.

• The violent crime rate in the state was 439.6 per 100,000 residents the year before she took office and fell to 396.4 by 2014.
• During that period, the California Department of Justice improved DNA testing capabilities and cleared the state's DNA backlog for the first time. Her office also signed an agreement with Mexico's AG to combat transnational gangs.
• However, violent crime surged to 444.8 in 2016 during her last year in office to a six-year high, an Axios review found.

Zoom in: As District Attorney of San Francisco, the number of cases from violent crimes in the city her office cleared skyrocketed by 24% during her time as DA, an Axios review found.

• Those cleared cases came as the number of violent crimes rose steadily in the city of San Francisco during her first five years in office then fell 15% in her last two years, the analysis found.

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/03/kamala-harris-prosecutor-district-attorney-record

Clearing out all those cases, many of which were weak, should have affected her numbers, making her conviction rate lower. During that time, San Francisco had a horrible problem with homelessness and crime. The fact that she was able to actually turn it around is impressive. She didn't make the problem, and likely she's not the only one who brought it down. But still.