Russia owns Trump

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To put the story in simplest terms:

1) Russian spies hacked Democratic Party communications in order to help elect Donald Trump.

2) Donald Trump welcomed the help, used it, publicly solicited more of it—and was then elected president of the United States.

3) President Obama sanctioned Russia for its pro-Trump espionage.

4) While Russia considered its response, its ambassador spoke with the national security adviser-designate about the sanctions

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5) The adviser, Flynn, reportedly asked Russia not to overreact, signaling that the new administration would review the sanctions; Russia did not respond.

6) As president-elect and then president, Donald Trump has indicated that he seeks to lift precisely those sanctions caused by Russia’s espionage work on his behalf.

All of this takes place against the background of Donald Trump’s seeming determination to align U.S. foreign policy ever closer to Russia’s: endorsing the annexation of Crimea, supporting Russia’s war aims in Syria, casting doubt on the U.S. guarantee to NATO allies, cheering on the breakup of the European Union.

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It takes place, too, in the context of Trump’s murky corporate financial obligations to Russian entities. "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Donald Trump Jr. told an investor conference in 2008. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” Exactly how much money is unknown to anyone outside the Trump Organization, because of the president’s repeated refusal to embrace financial transparency.

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