When I first went there [in] 2016, we were, I had a lot of good people. I had a lot of good advice, but I put people in that in some cases, were not what I really wanted because I didn’t know much about Washington.

Donald J. Trump/September 9, 2024

Above is the one time in the past decade, president-elect Trump admitted his first administration was not as successful as he hoped it would be because he did not know how Washington worked.  In a December 16, 2024 unscheduled press briefing at Mar-a-Lago, he suggested he and his team are much better prepared to achieve their agenda.  There is only one problem.  In 2017, he was facing institutions, procedures, rules and traditions associated with a democratic republic.

In the intervening eight years between January 2017 and today, he repeatedly praised autocrats, in particular Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán, and based his 2024 campaign on a promise that America would be great again if only he could duplicate their experience here.  However, as he has demonstrated in the past, Trump failed to understand the information right under his nose.  Knowing more about Washington, per his September 2024 declaration, does him no good because he now must negotiate the rules and traditions associated with being the poster child of an oligarchy, not a constitutional democracy.  And based on the last 48 hours of the transition it is clear he failed this important lesson.

Imagine if, in February 2022, Ukrainian-born Mikhail Fridman, head of the Alfa Group, a multinational Russian conglomerate, had announced the invasion of Ukraine.  And then, within hours, Putin posted on social media that he agreed with Fridman.  The lede on the front page of every major world newspaper would begin, “Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman appeared on national television to report that a military convoy was advancing toward Kyiv, Ukraine.   Fridman explained this ‘special military operation’ was designed to demilitarize Ukraine which represented a threat to Russian security.  Within hours of the televised message, President Vladimir Putin posted support of the operation on social media.”

Of course, that did not happen.  Why?  Because Putin and more importantly the oligarchs understand the consequences of exposing the fact their “elected” government is nothing more than a puppet and mouthpiece of the uber-rich.  That is why at 6:00 a.m. on the morning of February 23, 2022, Putin addressed the Russian people, justifying the incursion as a response to requests from the leaders of separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine who accused the Ukraine government of persecution and genocide.  Instead of wondering who was in control at the Kremlin, Russian state media praised Putin as a strongman who was protecting the safety of Russian citizens living in occupied Ukraine since 2014.

Believing Putin’s strongman veneer was real, Trump responded on February 23, 2022, as only he could.

I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.

That is what happens when you confuse Putin with Captain Jean-Luc Picard.  Trump’s takeaway from Putin’s actions vis-a-vis Ukraine was to dream of a day when he too could say, “Make it so!”  During Trump 1.0, he thought “my generals, my justices and my attorney general” would support and carry out his agenda.  He would not make the same mistake twice.  Trump 2.0 will be populated with oligarchs.  Some will masquerade as members of his cabinet, agency heads and ambassadors as evidenced by 11 billionaires nominated for these posts.  At least, Trump can claim these 11 oligarchs “work for me,” and can flex his muscle by firing them.  No so with the two bomb-throwers, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

More importantly, the difference between Putin’s oligarchs and the Musk/Ramaswamy tag team is the latter never agreed to rules of the “me president/you oligarch” game.  Russian oligarchs believe it is to their advantage to hide in the shadows.  Wealth is their prime directive.  Therefore, they are more than willing to let Putin take credit for policies that increase their assets and appreciate Putin taking the heat for mistakes that hurt Russia’s national interests.  They satisfy their huge egos through life styles few can imagine.

Not so with Musk and Ramaswamy. The irony is each think they are the “real” leaders of MAGA world.  And they do not need an “imposter” for a middleman.  Which explains why they saw no need to confer with Trump before undermining the budget agreement negotiated by House Speaker Mike Johnson.  This morning Trump made a feeble effort to change the narrative with a laughable post on Truth Social, as though the timing of a government shutdown would determine who is to blame.

If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under “TRUMP.” This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!

If this was Trump’s attempt to reassert his claim, “only I can fix it,” it is too late.  The toothpaste is already out of the tube.  Maybe voters should have paid more attention when Hillary Clinton accused Trump of being Putin’s puppet.  At the time, however, even she never imagined who would eventually be pulling the strings.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP