Vexler’s Near Miss
- john raymond
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
Vexler is right to rage against “sanewashing.” He sees the BBC, Reuters, and others take a one-word “yep” from President Trump and spin it into “Trump vows to sanction Russia.”
He sees the lie: treating Trump’s words as if they carry the weight of Bush or Obama, when in fact Trump lives in a post-truth fog. Vexler names the problem correctly: if we report Trump as though he were normal, we destroy the very institutions of democracy we claim to defend.
But Vexler stops just every so slightly short. He frames Trump’s pro-Putin stance as narcissism and ideological affinity, as if Trump might one day choose differently but won’t. That misses the deeper truth.
It is not that Trump won’t turn on Putin. It is that Trump can’t. To do so would collapse his entire regime. This is because Trump is not just an ally of Russia—he is a Russia project.
The Forty-Years of Compromise
For four decades Trump has been cultivated, compromised, and protected by KGB/FSB networks. His finances, his rise in real estate, his celebrity politics, his laundering of oligarch money—all of it fed into dependence. As such, Trump as a political actor is not an American accident; he is a Russian construction.
Thus, the “phase two sanctions” pantomime is not hesitation or cowardice. It is structural. If Trump ever struck a blow that actually damaged Putin, it would unravel the financial and kompromat webs that props him up.
So make no mistake, Trump’s power rests on never crossing the Kremlin.
Why Sanewashing Is Lethal
When media outlets take Trump’s word at face value, they do two things:
They misinform the public. A “yep” becomes “Trump vows new sanctions,” when in reality no such vow exists.
They erase Trump’s true nature. They imply Trump could act against Putin, when in reality he cannot.
That erasure is fatal. Because if Europeans believe Trump could choose, they will keep waiting for him to “turn the corner.” And when he never does, they might accept the excuse that Ukraine was somehow at fault, or that their pro-Ukrainian governments are the real problem.
The Correct Frame
Trump’s “phase two” is not a policy debate. It is a setup:
Lie 1: India tariffs hurt Russia. (They didn’t.)
Lie 2: Tariffs aren’t a tax on Americans. (They are.)
Lie 3: Europe must now follow suit. (They can’t without self-sabotage.)
Lie 4: If Europe refuses, the U.S. is justified in stepping back from Ukraine.
Every lie builds on the last. With Trump, the endpoint is always betrayal.
What To Watch
Tariff Myth Repetition. Expect Trump/Bessent to keep repeating the India lie.
Europe Pressure. Watch for Washington demanding Europe adopt “secondary tariffs.”
Blame Pivot. The moment Europe refuses, expect “intransigence” rhetoric.
Ukraine Abandonment. When all help dries up, the White House will say something like: “Europe forced our hand.”
The Core Takeaway
Vexler is right: reporting Trump’s “yep” as though it were real sanctions is suicide for journalism.
But the deeper truth is this: Trump will never act against Putin because he cannot. His regime is Russian in origin.
And always remember that his betrayal of Ukraine is not a bug—it is the plan.