Russia tries new blackmail approach with Donald Trump

| 12:12 pm EDT August 11, 2018
Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.

It is safe to say that even though Donald Trump has spent his summer vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, he is still having a very bad week. Using the same excuse as last summer, Trump says this vacation is necessary because the White House is undergoing renovations. “I miss it. I would love to be there,” Trump said of the White House, despite calling it a “dump” last year. After constantly berating President Obama for his time spent golfing, Trump has surpassed Obama’s number of rounds played, having already spent 150 days of his illegitimate presidency at his various golf clubs.

While Trump is away from Washington, individuals at the State Department are able to do their job without the fear of Trump stopping them, except for perhaps a threatening tweet. It was announced this week that the United States will place sanctions on Russia for its role in the chemical weapon attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March. This move is certain to upset Russian President Vladimir Putin, which means bad news for Trump.

Responding to this news via Twitter, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN posted this tweet, which didn’t have quite as many misspellings as a typical Donald Trump tweet: “The theater of absurd continues. No proofs, no clues, no logic, no presumption of innocense, just highly-liklies. Only one rule: blame everything on Russia, no matter how absurd and fake it is. Let us welcome the United Sanctions of America!” While this sounds strangely similar to how Trump would retort to bad news, it appears Russia is serious.

As Palmer Report has previously documented, Julia Davis is an expert in Russian propaganda with the Atlantic Council’s Disinformation Portal, who tracks Russian State Media television. On Friday, she sent a series of tweets detailing the Russian response to the announcement of sanctions. Russian PM Dmitry Medvdev called the sanctions a “declaration of economic war.” Medvedev went on to say Russia would react with retaliation including “other methods.”

What could the Russian PM have meant by other methods? Davis shared another tweet showing a clip from Russian State Media television. Vitaly Tretyakov, dean of Moscow State University’s School of Television, suggested that Russia must respond to the sanctions strongly. “Let’s turn this into a headache for Trump. If you want us to support you in the elections, which we’re ostensibly arranging, then do this or that.” You read that correctly – Russia is blatantly admitting that they assisted Trump in the last election and, if he wants any future help, he will prevent these sanctions from being enforced.