Trump in his cabinet meeting decided to give a fairly odd revisionist history of the USSR invasion of Afghanistan. Trump said:
"Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia. So you take a look at other countries. Pakistan is there. They should be fighting, but Russia should be fighting. The reason Russia was in, in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt. They went into being called Russia again as opposed to the Soviet Union."
Ignoring for a second the super questionable grammar and stream of consciousness there, this is a very curious statement. For starters, it's historically inaccurate. The USSR did not invade Afghanistan because of terrorists invading Russia, the USSR was not bankrupted because of the invasion, and Afghanistan did not make the USSR Russia, whatever that means.
This goes against not only the US position (we were supporting the troops fighting the USSR), but also Russian history that calls the invasion a mistake and does not say it was "right."
So why would Trump pick this up? Hard to say, but a curious development is happening in Russia. Putin's party has lost a lot of support in Russia and they are having to reconcile with other parties in the country to keep functioning properly. Part of that reconciliation is in rolling back the condemnation of the USSR's invasion (especially as it relates to the Communist Party in Russia). Putin has been having state run media run more sympathetic news of the invasion as they approach the anniversary of it.
So Trump, unprompted, states an incorrect view of history that is favorable to the Russians and directly contrary to the US's position for decades. There's no discernible trigger for why Trump would take a sympathetic view of the USSR and no reason to unprompted bring it up, buuuuuuut there is a very curious symmetry with his comments and recent Putin actions. This obviously isn't collusion so Trumpies can hold off on that retort, but it does call into question where Trump is getting his ideas and information from.
"Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia. So you take a look at other countries. Pakistan is there. They should be fighting, but Russia should be fighting. The reason Russia was in, in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt. They went into being called Russia again as opposed to the Soviet Union."
Ignoring for a second the super questionable grammar and stream of consciousness there, this is a very curious statement. For starters, it's historically inaccurate. The USSR did not invade Afghanistan because of terrorists invading Russia, the USSR was not bankrupted because of the invasion, and Afghanistan did not make the USSR Russia, whatever that means.
This goes against not only the US position (we were supporting the troops fighting the USSR), but also Russian history that calls the invasion a mistake and does not say it was "right."
So why would Trump pick this up? Hard to say, but a curious development is happening in Russia. Putin's party has lost a lot of support in Russia and they are having to reconcile with other parties in the country to keep functioning properly. Part of that reconciliation is in rolling back the condemnation of the USSR's invasion (especially as it relates to the Communist Party in Russia). Putin has been having state run media run more sympathetic news of the invasion as they approach the anniversary of it.
So Trump, unprompted, states an incorrect view of history that is favorable to the Russians and directly contrary to the US's position for decades. There's no discernible trigger for why Trump would take a sympathetic view of the USSR and no reason to unprompted bring it up, buuuuuuut there is a very curious symmetry with his comments and recent Putin actions. This obviously isn't collusion so Trumpies can hold off on that retort, but it does call into question where Trump is getting his ideas and information from.
