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A few days ago, Russia’s prime-time “60 Minutes” program congratulated Melania Trump on her husband’s electoral victory by displaying on air a handful of nude photographs of the future first lady that had originally appeared in GQ Magazine in 2000.
President-elect Trump may or may not have found the photographs to be offensive, but he was likely miffed by their appearance in Putin’s propaganda media. Make no mistake, it was Putin, and not the program’s obnoxious hosts Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeeva, who decided to show the pics. That both were visibly amused only underlined the degree to which the photos were meant to embarrass, not to celebrate.
It gets worse. Not only did Putin show the photos, but he did so before formally congratulating Trump on his victory, while also denying the veracity of the Washington Post’s report that he had spoken with Trump by telephone.
None of this is serendipitous. Putin is sending some kind of message. But what and to whom? Several possibilities come to mind.
It may be that Putin is intimating that he possesses an embarrassing “kompromat” on him. Rumors of such compromising materials have been circulating since the first Trump presidency, although they haven’t been substantiated. If it is true, Putin might be warning Trump not to go too far with his peace plans.
It may also be that Putin is playing hard to get, especially when one considers his delayed congratulations and denial of the phone call. In this scenario, which doesn’t contradict the first, Putin may be telling Trump that he doesn’t need him or the U.S. to start negotiations and that he’ll end the war against Ukraine on his own. In other words, Putin is telling Trump to stay out of his business.
Finally, Putin’s target audience may be Russian — both the masses and the elites. Accordingly, Putin is fully in charge, while Trump is the cuckolded husband who can’t behave like a tough Russian, a “muzhik,” and keep his wife under control. Many average Russians will likely giggle along with Skabeeva and wonder how Trump and his crazy Americans can possibly outmaneuver their genius leader. In contrast, Russian elites will get a charge out of Trump’s possible anger but may see through Putin’s transparent attempt to strengthen his position by making Trump look weak.
Whichever interpretation is correct — and they could all be — the fact of the matter is that Putin does not have much to crow about. His games with the Trumps are just games, bespeaking weakness and failure.
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