Over the weekend, we discussed the new reporting that claimed that the FBI had launched an investigation into Donald Trump in May 2017. They were investigating whether Trump was or is a Russian asset, whether he acts – knowingly or unknowingly – at the behest of a foreign government. The report was interesting because it revealed that the FBI had their concerns before Bob Mueller was ever appointed. The report was also a “no, derp” moment because we all know that Trump is a motherf–king Russian asset. We’ve known for years.

After that NYT report, the Washington Post followed up with this article about the lengths Trump has gone through to conceal his “conversations” with Vladimir Putin while in office. Putin and Trump have had several private conversations over the past two years, and no one working for the American government really knows what Trump or Putin are saying in those meetings. We can only assume that Trump is receiving his orders. Speaking of…

There are few things that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia desires more than the weakening of NATO, the military alliance among the United States, Europe and Canada that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, President Trump suggested a move tantamount to destroying NATO: the withdrawal of the United States.

Senior administration officials told The New York Times that several times over the course of 2018, Mr. Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared Mr. Trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set.

In the days around a tumultuous NATO summit meeting last summer, they said, Mr. Trump told his top national security officials that he did not see the point of the military alliance, which he presented as a drain on the United States.

At the time, Mr. Trump’s national security team, including Jim Mattis, then the defense secretary, and John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, scrambled to keep American strategy on track without mention of a withdrawal that would drastically reduce Washington’s influence in Europe and could embolden Russia for decades. Now, the president’s repeatedly stated desire to withdraw from NATO is raising new worries among national security officials amid growing concern about Mr. Trump’s efforts to keep his meetings with Mr. Putin secret from even his own aides, and an F.B.I. investigation into the administration’s Russia ties.

[From The NY Times]

Yep. What kills me – and what will kill us all, honestly – is that people keep acting like this is brand new information. Trump has been recording diss tracks against NATO for two years. He hates NATO because he is too stupid to understand it. He just believes whatever his Russian handlers tell him, because that’s easier for him. Easier than picking up a briefing paper or reading a f–king book.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.