Media Lies with Half Truth About Trump and Russia

Democrats and the left-wing news is peddling a story about a deal between President Trump and Vladimir Putin over Venezuela and Ukraine. It is an old story that has been resurrected in the face of the recent capture of Nicolas Maduro. According to the news reports there was a deal between Trump and Putin that the United States could have a free hand in Venezuela if Trump would allow Putin a free hand in Ukraine.

Of course, the left-wing social media crowd has gone crazy over the story – giving it an aura of legitimacy that the facts do not.

The story goes back to 2019 and a congressional hearing in which Trump advisor Fiona Hill said that the Russians floated the idea of a “very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine.”

No official offer was made, but Hill recently told the Associated Press (AP) that then-Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov repeatedly told her that Russia would be willing to allow the United States to act as it wished in Venezuela but only is Trump would do the same in terms of Russia in eastern Europe. If nothing else, the 2019 offer reveals that Putin was coveting Ukraine six years ago. In fact, this was at a time when Ukraine was being governed by a corrupt administration – one that maintained ties to Russia.

According to Hill, “There was a ‘hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink, how about doing a deal?’ But nobody was interested.” That nobody was Trump, of course. There was no deal, as the left-wing news media, podcasters and influencers are now alleging. Hill said her comments surfaced (inaccurately) after the U.S. operation that captured Maduro.

To underscore his outright rejection of the offer, Trump sent Hill to Moscow with a firm message, “Ukraine and Venezuela are not related to each other.”

Regardless, the obsessively anti-Trump media has completely distorted the facts to make it appear that a deal was made – and the recent actions in Venezuela are part of it. It is literally fake news.

Trump’s refusal to allow Putin free rein with Ukraine gives credence to his claim that there would have been no invasion had he been President in 2020, when the Madman of Moscow launched his most recent invasion into Ukraine. We should also keep in mind that Russia was able to gain and maintain control of the eastern portion of Ukraine in 2014 – and subsequently took Crimea — without more than a weak condemnation from then-President Obama – who refused to send weapons to Ukraine. All they got from the United States was blankets and so-called humanitarian aid. Trump subsequently sent weapons and imposed strong sanctions on Russia.

Like Obama, President Biden talked tough – even saying Putin had to be removed – but engaged in a policy of too little/too late in terms of aid to Ukraine – needlessly prolonging the war to Putin’s benefit.

I have written of my belief that Trump has not done enough in terms of military aid to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, but he has done more in both cases than his predecessors.

The suggestion that Trump has engaged in an unholy pact with Putin over both Ukraine and Venezuela is hideous slander.

While I remain critical of Trump’s policy on Ukraine, Venezuela is a work in progress, but I believe Trump was spot on in terms of taking out Maduro, attacking narco-terrorists and interdicting oil tankers violating American sanctions. And if we get some benefit from Venezuelan oil instead of the Alliance of Evil, so much the better.

So, there ‘tis.