Why is Trump working with the Russians?
tl;dr: Trump doesn’t think it’s wrong.
There’s been a lot of reporting on Donald Trump and the Trump regime colluding with the Russian government. While we still don’t know exactly what has happened, there is irrefutable evidence that something has happened. Time will tell us what that something is.
But what’s been missing from the reporting is why. Why would Donald Trump collude with the Russians? Why does Donald Trump want to undermine our democracy and our entire country by working with the corrupt government in Russia?
It’s really simple.
It’s Just Business
Trump doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with profiting off the presidency (hell, his kids are publicly saying how great it is). Trump doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with doing things that are bad for the country but good for Trump and other rich people. Trump doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with wrecking the economy, destroying the educational system, or encouraging private prisons if it makes money. Trump doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with taking away fundamental rights, or discriminating against people who aren’t white Christian cisgender heterosexual males, if it helps him make money.
It’s just business.
Trump thinks he can lie with impunity, cheat and threaten people, even ruin them, without any consequences. He thinks he can discriminate against whoever he wants and sexually assault women and get away with it. He’s been doing it for decades, so why not in the Oval Office too?
When Trump’s businesses filed for bankruptcy, he always did fine — it was always other people’s monies that got lost, and he took the tax deduction. This is the sort of ethics he thinks are OK. And, in case you haven’t heard, he thinks ethics rules don’t apply to him. And he doesn’t think you have the right to know what he’s doing.
When Trump’s idol Vladimir Putin doesn’t like what somebody is saying or doing, they are killed or “vanished.” Dictator Putin is the law. Trump wants to be the law, and he’d love the power that Putin has. He doesn’t want the responsibility of leading the country — he just wants the power.
It’s Obvious
Of course Trump is going to collude with Putin and Russia!
It would be stupid not to. Putin is the other big mob boss. Rather than get in a big mob war, you make peace with the other mob bosses. “I’ll make Mexico my bitch; you can have Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe.” It’s not about undermining democracy — it’s about what’s best for the family business, and everything else, including truth and democracy, is irrelevant.
Trump believes that “When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal” (that’s Richard Nixon, in case you don’t remember.) Trump believes that what he says is “100% correct” and “will not be questioned” (that’s Trump accomplices Sean Spicer and Stephen Miller, respectively, in case you don’t remember).
Throughout his life, Trump has done whatever he wanted and gotten away with it. The priority has always been what’s good for Trump, not anybody else. So why would that change when he’s in the Oval Office? It hasn’t and it won’t—he’ll collude with Russia if he wants to because he doesn’t think it’s wrong, and he’ll call you un-American if you question him.
As much as I don’t want to see Pence or Ryan become President, the only option to save the country is impeachment.