How Russia Mercilessly Played Trump for a Fool
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/how-russia-played-trump-for-a-fool
He and his coterie of idiots, nihilists, and opportunists were the perfect prey for Putin’s spell.
In the fall of 2012, I was in Moscow, at the embassy of a small Middle Eastern country. I was writing an article for The New York Times Magazine about an oligarch in Baku who wanted to build the tallest skyscraper in the world. I had been told the ambassador and the oligarch had met in the ‘90s at a cocktail party in London and were friends, sort of. The ambassador served sugar cookies and very strong coffee in miniature porcelain cups, which is what they serve when you interview ambassadors, from the Middle East and elsewhere. He had a kindly gaze and gravelly baritone. He was well tailored. Naturally, he spoke with an Oxbridge lilt. He seemed more like a caricature of an ambassador than an ambassador. He asked me who was going to win the election in America. I told him I had no idea. It was raining in Moscow, and the price of a barrel of oil was still north of $100. For 10 or 15 minutes, the ambassador spouted platitudes about the new global order, Obama, Putin, the Turks, the Azeris, a pipeline, someone he’d met at Davos, his favorite soccer team. He quoted Metternich at least once. Finally, he said, May we transition to—how do you say?—deep background?, which seemed a funny way of saying, Can I be honest with you? I nodded, and he said, About America, I want to say something: Every four or eight years, you elect a new president, and the president is like a virgin who must be educated in, you can say, the world. We like America because you are friendly and believe in nice things, but the Russians understand how the world works...
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