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Russia Is Finally Getting Its Money’s Worth With Trump’s Latest Kremlin Gift Basket

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Despite the overwhelming influence of a convergence of interests between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, many skeptics about a potential conspiracy or covert alliance between the two have argued that the Kremlin hasn’t gotten much in exchange for its efforts to help Trump get elected.

While Trump has been rhetorically soft on Putin and has waged a public relations campaign against NATO, the some of the overt actions of his administration — launching missiles at Syria, providing arms to the Ukraine, and imposing sanctions on Russian invidiuals and organizations — have gone directly against the Kremlin’s interests, these skeptics say. There has been some truth to these claims, though much of the aggressive action toward Russia has been driven by Congress and fought by the Trump administration.

But on Wednesday, the Trump administration took two major steps in line with Russia’s interests that may help make all the effort Putin went to in supporting his candidacy worth it.

First, and most substantially, Trump announced, out of the blue, that the United States will be pulling out of Syria.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump said on Twitter. Officials have confirmed that planning is underway to withdraw troops.

As analyst Nick Patton Walsh explained, this was a big win for Putin’s interests in the region.

“Without the US in the ring, Russia is the main military force in the post-war Syria,” he wrote in a piece for CNN. “However you divine it, Trump seems to have few qualms about doing things that will please Putin.”

The claim that ISIS is “defeated” in Syria, however, is overly optimistic. Martin Chulov, a Middle East reporter for The Guardian, explained:

The long fight against Islamic State looks good on a map, but it is yet to be decisive on the battlefield.

The terror group has lost more than 95% of the territory it claimed in 2014 and the juggernaut that threatened to shred the region’s borders has been battered back to where it all began for the group’s earliest incarnation – a sliver of land along the Euphrates River, bordering Iraq and Syria.

There, Kurdish-led forces, backed by US air support, have been fighting it out with diehard extremists in towns and villages in Syria’s far eastern Deir ez-Zor province.

At least 2,500 Isis fighters remain, all survivors of routs to the east and west of their last redoubt. Colossal ruin lays in their wake on both sides of the river. But the group retains the capacity to do even more damage, especially if let off the hook now.

Meanwhile, Trump’s own Republican allies are extremely skeptical of his new announcement.

“Withdrawal of this small American force in Syria would be a huge Obama-like mistake,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).

“The decision to pull out of Syria was made despite overwhelming military advice against it,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). “It is a major blunder.

The GOP has often been far too eager to wield the might of the U.S. military, and there may, in fact, be good reason for the United States to pull out of Syria. But ISIS being “defeated” is not one of them, and it is suspicious that the president primarily chooses to buck his party when it aligns with Putin’s interests.

And despite the major stakes of the decision, CNBC’s Christina Wilkie reports that a senior administration official is refusing to answer any questions about the “deliberative process” behind the Syria pullout. This sugests that there likely was no deliberative process — the president acted on his own.

“I’ve never seen a decision like this,” said Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) after meeting at the White House to discuss the decision. “For all involved, this was a major shock.”

Others who are often critical of the president also found the move bewildering.

“Why would Trump do this now? Who knows?” wrote commentator Max Boot. “Given that he is acting at odds with his advisers, this is clearly not the result of a normal policy-review process. This is the Trump Doctrine in operation: Trump does whatever he wants. It could be based on what he had for breakfast — or there could be something more sinister going on.”

Another move brought by the Trump administration Wednesday will likely mean Putin is going to be even more pleased with the president. The Treasury Department annouced Wednesday that it will be rolling back sanctions — passed by Congress as punishment for Russia’s election interference — on entities tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Ostensibly, this move was taken because Deripaska is divesting a significant portion of his financial stakes in these entities. However, there are serious reasons for concern about this action.

For one, Deripaska himself has troubling ties to the Trump campaign. Court filings show that Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort was heavily indebted to Deripaska. And uncovered emails have shown that, during the campaign, Manafort reportedly offered his position within the Trump campaign as having the potential to resolve his debt to Deripaska.

But even leaving aside the shady Deripaska connection, the Treasury’s move is troubling on its own terms.

As law professor Jed Shugerman pointed out, the entities buying up Deripaska’s shares in the sanctioned businesses are themselves deeply suspicious. One of those entities, VTB Bank, has been named as a potential funder for the Trump Tower Moscow project the president was working on during the campaign. The other firm is Glencore.

“Glencore is being investigated for money laundering, and has been doing big business with Deripaska for years,” noted Shugerman.

So after fighting Congress over Russia sanctions all along the way, the Trump administration is now rolling back some of these key penalties under highly dubious circumstances.

In response to the rollback of the sanctions, former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah said: “So, the quid pro quo in plain sight.”

It’s not clear yet if there was an explicit conspiracy between Trump and Russians in the run-up to the 2016 election. But is clear that Putin had a strong desire for Trump to win — in part because he hated Hillary Clinton and in part because he thought Trump would be amenable to his interests. This Christmas season, it’s clear Putin is getting exactly what he wanted.

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Trump Launches Bizarre Epstein Files ‘Scam’ Rant When Asked About Russiagate

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July 30, 2025

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After weeks of relentless coverage of the Epstein files crisis, President Donald Trump has seemed eager to change the subject—but when the opportunity arose, he couldn’t resist seizing on the scandal once again.

During a press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked the President about a Fox News report that the FBI had found “Russiagate” documents in “burn bags.” The President, who at first said he did not know what she was talking about, then told the reporter to “speak up,” before launching into a conspiracy theory rant about the Epstein files.

“I don’t know that. I don’t know what you mean by that statement,” Trump told the reporter.

“Bags full of Russiagate documents,” the reporter repeated.

READ MORE: ‘Five Alarm Fire for Democracy’: Trump’s Texas Map Slammed as ‘Illegal Voter Suppression’

“Oh, burn bags—I thought you said, ‘appointed a man named Burnbag.'”

“Well,” Trump went on after confirming the reporter had said “burn bags,” “I want it to be shown, you know, as long as it’s fair and reasonable, I think it will be shown, and it should be shown. And I think he feels that way, and I think Pam [Bondi] feels that way.”

“But it’s got to be, you know, it’s be stuff that really doesn’t hurt people unfairly, ’cause you have so many people involved, and if they can do that in a fair way, I think it’s great. I think it’s really great.

“It’s—the whole thing is a scam,” Trump continued. “It’s a scam set up by the Democrats, and they love talking about it, but, I would like to see people exposed that might be bad, and we’ll see how that all works out, but it’s getting to be very old news.”

“You know, if they had anything, they would have done it the week before the election, because they were losing by a lot, if they had anything, they would have done it. They controlled the file,” he claimed.

“The Democrats controlled it—Comey and all this, you know, sleazebags, every one of them that you read about all the time, and I guess they’ve got some problems now, having to do with yet a different scandal, very big one. But they controlled that file, so I would think that if they would have had something in the file, they would have released it about a week before the election, maybe two weeks.”

READ MORE: ‘Complicity With Authoritarian’: Booker Goes Ballistic on Democrats—‘Too Much on the Line’

It’s unclear why Trump would both say that the Epstein files are a “scam,” and that he wants it all to be shown.

This is not the first time in recent weeks that Trump has delivered an odd answer to a question.

Earlier this month, as The New Republic reported, “Trump took off on a winding rant about his summer vacation plans … when asked a crucial question about ‘Alligator Alcatraz.'”

TNR reported that the President was “clearly confused.”

The reporter had asked her question—how long will detainees spend in “Alligator Alcatraz”—and repeated it for Trump, but he replied, “I’m gonna spend a lot of—this is my home state. I love it. I love your government. I love all the people around—these are all friends of mine. They know me very well. I mean I’m not surprised that they do so well. They’re great people.”

Three weeks ago in Texas, asked about the early warning system failures and massive loss of life, Trump replied, “Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are but only an evil person would ask a question like that.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Our People’: Hawley Says Tariff Rebates for ‘Trump Blue-Collar Voters’—Not ‘Biden Voters’

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Five Alarm Fire for Democracy’: Trump’s Texas Map Slammed as ‘Illegal Voter Suppression’

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3 hours ago

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July 30, 2025

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Texas Republicans have just unveiled new Trump-ordered congressional maps that eliminate five Democratic-held seats—deliberately shifting them to the GOP in a bid to lock down control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Critics are calling it illegal voter suppression and vowing to retaliate by redrawing maps in blue states.

Texas has 38 congressional seats. Twenty-five are currently held by Republicans. The new maps, if they go into effect, are expected to hand Republicans 30 seats.

Democrats are preparing to fight back, and House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly is heading to Austin on Wednesday night.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) responded to the newly unveiled maps, declaring that merging two districts is “illegal voter suppression of Black and Latino Central Texans.”

READ MORE: London Mayor Smacks Down Trump After ‘Nasty’ Attack

“By merging our Central Texas districts, Trump wants to commit yet another crime— this time, against Texas voters and against The Voting Rights Act,” Casar charged. “If Trump is allowed to rip the Voting Rights Act to shreds here in Central Texas, his ploy will spread like wildfire across the country. Everyone who cares about our democracy must mobilize against this illegal map.”

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) issued a threat: “Hope it’s worth it! Say goodbye to [House Republican] Kevin Kiley and 5 other CA Republicans.”

“This is an attempt to steal the US House,” warned former Democratic spokesperson and strategist Jeb Fain. “The GOP knows they’re likely to lose the House next year, so they’re going to try to steal the election,” he added.

Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez declared, “Trump is ordering Texas Republicans to rig the maps in a desperate power grab so he doesn’t have to answer for his failed policies. This special session should be about flood relief for Texans. Not partisan b——-.”

Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones calls the Republicans’ new map “a racial and political bloodbath.”

“Pitted Democrats of color against each other,” she wrote. “Gave Trump more than he asked for,” and concluded: “This isn’t redistricting. It’s retribution.”

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) slammed Texas Republicans who, she wrote, “just rolled out their proposed Congressional map that cut 5 Democratic seats out of thin air. Let’s be clear: these maps are not about representation, it’s a power grab to silence voters and suppress votes. They know their policies are unpopular, and they are afraid of losing. So what do they try to do? Cheat. If your big idea is ‘cheat harder,’ maybe it’s time to rethink your politics.”

READ MORE: ‘Complicity With Authoritarian’: Booker Goes Ballistic on Democrats—‘Too Much on the Line’

Veteran journalist Lydia Polgreen warned, “SCOTUS has basically said this is a-ok so Democrats are suicidal if they do not fight fire with fire.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office wrote: “Texas just released a map so rigged it might as well have been drawn at Mar-a-Lago. California won’t be sitting on the sidelines.”

Congressman Casar is calling the move a “five alarm fire for democracy,” and charges that Trump has no plan to win the midterm elections, rather, he has “a plan for rigging the rules.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Our People’: Hawley Says Tariff Rebates for ‘Trump Blue-Collar Voters’—Not ‘Biden Voters’

 

Image via Reuters 

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Redistricting Strikeback: As Trump’s Texas Gambit Progresses Blue States Ready Retaliation

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5 hours ago

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July 30, 2025

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Immediately after President Donald Trump ordered Texas to create five new GOP-majority congressional districts in a nearly unprecedented mid-decade redistricting effort, Lone Star State Republicans leapt into action, setting off blue state Democrats who vowed to respond in kind. Today, Texas is expected to unveil its new congressional maps, handing the President exactly what he demanded.

Currently, Texas has 25 Republican-held seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and thirteen seats that were won by Democrats.

According to Punchbowl News‘ Wednesday morning report, Governor Abbott’s new map would increase the number of (likely) Republican-held House seats from Texas to 30, and reduce the number of (likely) Democratic-held seats to just eight.

Five GOP seats alone, in theory, could hand Mike Johnson another term as Speaker of the House.

READ MORE: London Mayor Smacks Down Trump After ‘Nasty’ Attack

“It’s huge news in Austin and on Capitol Hill,” Punchbowl News reported. “It may help the GOP keep control of the House in 2026 — or trigger redistricting fights in other state capitals as Democrats retaliate.”

There might be drawbacks for Republicans.

“Democrats have declared that Republicans are at grave risk of spreading their voters too thin and creating districts that could flip blue in a bad year for Republicans. This kind of redraw is known as a ‘dummymander.'”

But the five new likely GOP districts Texas has drawn all show Donald Trump having won those voters by double-digits, making it more difficult for Democrats to flip them.

Texas moving forward with their redistricting plan means that several blue states may also attempt to redraw their congressional maps: California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington reportedly are all in various stages, from initial conversations to drafting legislation.

Last week, U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) warned, “if they’re gonna go nuclear in Texas, I’m gonna go nuclear in other places.”

Maryland House Democratic Majority Leader David Moon, who is drafting new redistricting legislation, told Politico, “it seems very clear that self defense is something we have to put as a priority.”

“If that’s where we are, and that’s where we’re forced to go, then I think that’s where Democratic states need to be prepared to go,” he added.

READ MORE: ‘Complicity With Authoritarian’: Booker Goes Ballistic on Democrats—‘Too Much on the Line’

House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has indicated he wants to reorganize the congressional maps in at least five states, to help Democrats pick up as many seats as possible.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is in support of redrawing California’s maps: “I don’t like redistricting in the middle of a decade, but if that’s the game that Republicans want to play, we have to make sure that they know we’re going to put everything on the table,” she told NewsNation, as The Sacramento Bee reported.

Texas is not the only red state expected to move forward with redrawing its maps.

Punchbowl News last week reported that while “Democrats are desperate to push back against President Donald Trump’s brazen attempt to shift the House map in the GOP’s favor…Republicans are trying to muscle through new maps in Texas, Ohio and Missouri, with more red states potentially on deck.”

Legal challenges aside, “some Democrats believe they could squeeze as many as six new seats out of California between a remapping and a good stiff anti–White House midterm breeze,” New York magazine’s Intelligencer reported.

Democrats have in their favor strong anti-Trump sentiment and the fact that the party in control of the White House usually loses seats during the midterms—a fact Trump is trying to negate by ordering the redistricting. But Democrats also have tied their own hands. In the name of good governance, many blue state have independent redistricting commissions, and they may need to go to court to reach their goals.

READ MORE: ‘Our People’: Hawley Says Tariff Rebates for ‘Trump Blue-Collar Voters’—Not ‘Biden Voters’

 

Image via Reuters

 

 

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