We Have Seen This Patty-Cake Before from Trump and Putin—But Bullshit Is Bullshit
- john raymond
- Jul 8
- 2 min read
He’s doing it again. The patty-cake. The performative slap-fight. The “Putin is being difficult” routine designed to create the illusion of friction where there is none. President Trump’s recent comments—about how “we get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin” and how “he’s very nice but it turns out to be meaningless”—are not a sign of real conflict between the two men. They are the performance of conflict.
We have seen this dance before. And we know exactly how it ends: with nothing.
Back in early May, Trump did the same thing. In the lead-up to Russia’s Victory Day parade on May 9th—a symbolic date that Putin was desperate to preserve as a show of national strength—Trump played the same game. He publicly floated the idea of sanctions. On May 8th, he even said that if Russia didn’t agree to a ceasefire, sanctions would follow. It sounded tough. It sounded principled.
It was a lie.
No sanctions came. No penalties. No pressure. Nothing.
The “threat” was never real. It was designed to manipulate Ukraine into giving Russia a symbolic ceasefire so Putin could have his parade. That’s the pattern. Trump pretends to stand up to Putin in order to pressure Ukraine into concessions, then quietly backs off without delivering any actual consequences to Russia.
The performance isn’t just empty—it’s manipulative.
Now, here we are again. A cabinet meeting, a frustrated quote about Putin’s “bullshit,” and yet another round of headlines speculating that maybe—just maybe—Trump is finally changing. But he’s not. He never has.
And if you need a reminder, just look at the social media trail...
Trump’s “really bad things” Truth Social post, supposedly expressing anger at Putin, was followed just days later by a quietly deleted post describing his “good conversation” with the Russian dictator. This is not inconsistency. This is not confusion. It’s a strategy.
The lie is the attack.
And the purpose of the lie is to confuse. To make Americans unsure whether Trump is for or against Putin. To muddy the waters. To split the media. To buy time. To wear us down.
This is what asymmetric warfare looks like when waged from inside the Oval Office. Trump doesn’t just fail to hold Putin accountable—he actively helps him by polluting the information space with contradiction, delay, and fake tough talk.
So don’t fall for it. We’ve seen this patty-cake before. It’s not strength. It’s not diplomacy.
It’s bullshit.
Trump is not “frustrated” with Putin. He’s covering for him. He’s protecting him. And every time we act like his words matter, we empower the strategy of confusion.
So here’s the truth: Demand action, not words.
Don’t be fooled by statements. Don’t be placated by tone. If Trump was serious about pushing back on Putin, we’d have seen sanctions months ago. We’d have seen accelerated weapons deliveries. We’d have seen real consequences.
But we haven’t.
Because this isn’t a break-up.
It’s a cover story.
And until Trump’s actions match his words, we should treat every statement he makes about Russia for what it is:
Bullshit.
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