TRUMP, PUTIN, OR FRIEDMAN—WHOM TO BELIEVE?

HOW TO DISCERN TRUTH FROM PSYCHOTIC PRONOUNCEMENTS? By the way, “Psychosis,” says the Cleveland Clinic, is “disconnection from reality.” Like, for example, claiming that Ukraine initiated the war with Russia. Or that Trump won the 2020 Presidential Election. Or that Musk’s chainsaw wielders uncovered a continuing monthly $122K payment to Michelle Obama.

Here’s another test case: In The New York Times, March 18, 2025, Thomas L. Friedman writes, “I Don’t Believe a Single Word Trump or Putin Say About Ukraine.”

Let’s examine the creds of each of these three individuals.

Putin. According to Wikipedia,  Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin “worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years… and has been “the longest-serving Russian president since the independence of Russia from the Soviet Union.”

A macho photo of Putin that’s not topless. Back in 2010, Renault F1 had sponsorship from Russian Lada. Image from premier.gov.ru. 

Gee. I’ve driven a Formula 1 car too, but I confess my experience in international duplicity is nil. 

Trump. Trump hasn’t driven an F1 car as yet, though he has hawked Teslas on the White House South Lawn. (Can convicted felons be licensed to sell cars?)

Also, as noted by Bill Addis in Daily Kos, March 16, 2025, Trump Cheats at Golf, Again….”

Image from dailykos. 

Addis recounts, “… he claims to have won the Golf Club Championship at his own course.” Addis offers a good spin on this: “If he’s playing golf, he can’t mangle the government at the same time. That’s a benefit to us.”

Friedman. By contrast, Thomas L. Friedman has been foreign affairs Opinion columnist for The New York Times since 1995. And speaking of winning, The Times notes, “Mr. Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon) and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel). He also won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.”

Hmm…. Which one to believe? The ex-KGB dictator? The convicted felon who’s known habitually to lie like a rug? Or a thrice-Pulitzer-honored journalist. 

Here are tidbits gleaned from Friedman’s article.

The Vlad/Don Bromance. Friedman writes, “Ever since President Trump returned to office and began trying to make good on his boast about ending the Ukraine war in days, thanks to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, I’ve had this gnawing concern that something was lost in translation in the bromance between Vlad and Don.” 

Homophones. Friedman continues, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “When the interpreter tells Trump that Putin says he’s ready to do anything for ‘peace’ in Ukraine, I’m pretty sure what Putin really said was he’s ready to do anything for a ‘piece’ of Ukraine…. You know those homophones—they can really get you in a lot of trouble if you’re not listening carefully. Or if you’re only hearing what you want to hear.”

Stripping Ukraine Naked. Friedman notes Putin’s “key condition” of complete cessation of foreign military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv—in other words, stripping Ukraine naked of any ability to resist a full Russian takeover of Ukraine. More proof, if anyone needed it, that Putin is not, as Trump foolishly believed, looking for peace with Ukraine; he’s looking to own Ukraine.”

Distrust “And” and “The.”  “All that said,” Friedman posits, “you will pardon me, but I do not trust a single word that Trump and Putin say about their private conversations on Ukraine—including the words “and” and “the,” as the writer Mary McCarthy famously said about the veracity of her rival Lillian Hellman. Because something has not smelled right from the start with this whole Trump-Putin deal-making on Ukraine.”

Too Quick a Deal, Unless…. “For starters,” Friedman reminds us of history, “it took Secretary of State Henry Kissinger over a month of intense shuttle diplomacy to produce the disengagement agreements between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Syria that ended the 1973 war—and all of those parties wanted a deal. Are you telling me that two meetings between Trump’s pal Steve Witkoff and Putin in Moscow and a couple of phone calls between Putin and Trump are enough to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine on reasonable terms for Kyiv?”

“Trump,” Friedman continues, “couldn’t sell a hotel that quickly—unless he was giving it away.”

A Mark of Cain. “Lord, I hope that is not what we’re watching here,” Friedman writes. “Message to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance: If you sell out Ukraine to Putin, you will forever carry a mark of Cain on your foreheads as traitors to a core value that has animated U.S. foreign policy for 250 years—the defense of liberty against tyranny.”

“Our nation,” Friedman says, “has never so brazenly sold out a country struggling to be free, which we and our allies had been supporting for three years. If Trump and Vance do that, the mark of Cain will never wash off. They will go down in history as ‘Neville Trump’ and ‘Benedict Vance.’ ”

Friedman concludes with, “… color me very, very skeptical of every word Trump and Putin say on Ukraine— including ‘and’ and ‘the.’ ”

Me too. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025