Former President Donald Trump exudes an aura of timelessness. That’s not to say he has an aesthetic that transcends any particular era; it’s to say if you watch Trump too closely and for too long, the man has a way of unmooring time itself.
That’s the only way I can explain the experience of watching his interview with an outlet called Real America’s Voice that aired Tuesday. It was classic Trump, showcasing his unwillingness to even consider that maybe — maybe! — he shouldn’t put his own priorities over America’s interests.
In a clip released ahead of the full interview, Trump goes on an extended, rambling riff that all but begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release information about Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son.
“As long as Putin now is not exactly a fan of our country,” he said, the Russian leader may as well spill the tea about Hunter Biden’s business. “I think Putin now would be willing to probably give that answer. I’m sure he knows.”
Extended clip is worth watching: “As long as Putin is not exactly a fan of our country… I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it… you won’t get the answer from Ukraine… I think Putin now would be willing to probably give that answer.” pic.twitter.com/JFGcBk4Kxd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 30, 2022
That’s how Trump has operated this whole time, smashing together fact with rumor and grudges into a slurry of ill intent and naked ambition. Rather than hide his intentions, he merely states them out loud. As I’ve noted before, his opponents often scramble for some Watergate-esque secret smoking gun, when all the evidence they need of his intentions is out in the open.
In asking Russia for help bringing down the Biden family, it obviously brings to mind the infamous moment during the 2016 campaign when, referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails, he said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens.”
That’s how Trump has operated this whole time, smashing together fact with rumor and grudges into a slurry of ill intent and naked ambition.
While Trump later tried to explain the moment away as a joke, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report noted, Russia was listening. “Within approximately five hours of Trump’s statement, GRU [Russian military intelligence] officers targeted for the first time Clinton’s personal office,” the report read. While Putin is a little tied up at the moment, it’s entirely possible that he would welcome a distraction from the disaster his invasion of Ukraine has become for him.








