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By John Helmer, Moscow
@bears_with [2]
Blind man’s buff is an old game of parlour warfare in which the combatants try to tag the blind one, the buffer, and then hide. If they are caught, they are out of the game. The buffer wins when he’s tagged them all out. Hiding in plain sight, making deceptive noises to disguise their positions, are common tactics for staying in the game.
At the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, all the allies in the war against Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea are playing the game. The blindfold is tied across the eyes of the mainstream media, and also President Donald Trump’s.
Vladimir Zelensky tagged him on Tuesday afternoon. “I hope that we will end this war,” he said [3] in front of the press, “and President Trump will help us to end this war. And I think that we needed to do as quick as possible, before winter.”
“Before winter. Big thing, before winter,” Trump fell for the tag.
Endorsing the Zelensky regime and its drone operations against the Russian hinterland, Trump added: “I think they’re going to make a deal and I don’t want to say what the deal is. We talk about it a lot, including with President Putin, and I think something’s going to happen. But certainly, they are very good fighters. Really, they can be proud of themselves regardless. We’ll see what happens, but very, very capable people, very capable leadership.”
Tagged by a British reporter, Trump said former Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been “too tough.” He then endorsed [4] the successor, Andrew Burnham, to his face. “I think he’s going to be good. I will say, he’s on your side very much…We are with you all the way, Mr. Prime Minister…[US-UK relations are] more up now than they were with your last prime minister.”
Tagged to say why he doesn’t ban US exports of diesel to lower domestic prices, Trump played pretend [3]. “Well, I’ve called for that too. I said, let’s not send out the diesel.” That is not the presidential executive order that is required. The US oil lobby and Trump’s Energy Secretary are adamantly opposed [5] to an executive order.
In the new podcast with Nima Alkhorshid, recorded on Tuesday morning before Trump’s afternoon meetings with Zelensky and Burnham, we discuss the game being played and take the blindfold off.
The discussion anticipated [6] Trump’s agreement with Denmark and Greenland for the new Arctic front against Russia. “We are strengthening our common security, boosting our common deterrence, showing our adversaries who we are,” tagged Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, “and we are doing it together. Mr. President, you have been very clear, you don’t want adversaries to come too close…and with this deal, they are not. We are making sure that they will not be allowed to get any control or significant influence in Greenland. And we are making sure that more allies are present in the Arctic at the same time.”
We were also broadcasting before Trump declared in his formal UN speech: “I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East, or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”
“They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide, and I’ll be here for two and a half years. The Republican Party is running and I’ll be helping them, but I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election. When it comes to Iran, it doesn’t even enter my mind [7].”
As all the taggers can see, Trump has knotted his blindfold tight.
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