President Donald Trump, still fresh off his election win, says he’s planning a meeting with his favorite frenemy, Russia’s President Vlad Putin, as soon as he’s sworn back into the Oval.
Speaking at Mar-a-Lago to a group of Republican governors, Trump confirmed that Putin “wants to meet” and added that, “we’re gonna — we’re setting it up.” He made his priorities clear, saying he intends to put an end to the war in Ukraine. “Yeah we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” he said.
Last month, Putin publicly said he was ready to meet Trump. The prospect of these two sitting down has us wondering: Is this a rekindling of their very controversial relationship?
Trump and Putin: A complicated history
Trump and Putin have a history. During Trump’s first term, he didn’t hold back in praising the Russian leader. He called him “smart” and even a “genius” for his calculated decisions. At the 2018 Helsinki Summit, Trump shocked the entire world by siding with Putin over his own intelligence agencies. It was pretty crazy.
When asked about Russian interference in the 2016 election, Trump said, “President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial.”
Even after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Trump couldn’t resist complimenting Putin. While most Western leaders condemned Russia’s actions, Trump said, “I’d say that’s pretty smart,” referring to Putin’s strategy. These comments, whether calculated or off-the-cuff, didn’t go unnoticed. Critics pointed to them as evidence of Trump’s soft spot for the Russian president.
Now, with Trump headed back to the Oval, Putin is extending a hand. He’s even backed away from his long-standing plan to dethrone the U.S. dollar, and actually explained that, “We’re not rejecting the dollar… we were merely denied its use.”
Putin called U.S. financial authorities “foolish” for risking the dollar’s dominance. He argued that the U.S. is gambling with its own power, and the consequences could be severe.
The USD, BRICS, and Bitcoin drama
Weirdly enough, just two weeks after Putin publicly said he wasn’t against the US dollar anymore, Trump came out and threatened 100% tariffs on any BRICS country that dares challenge the greenback.
“The idea that BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump posted on Truth Social, seemingly unprovoked. Especially since he’s the one whose economic plans will actively devalue the dollar.
BRICS controls over 40% of the world’s central-bank reserves, and they’ve been discussing blockchain-based alternatives, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and a cross-border payment system that would bypass U.S.-centric systems like SWIFT.
Putin was all in on this plan, calling for BRICS to “experiment with distributed ledger technology” to settle trade imbalances. He sees this as a way to weaken the dollar’s grip without fully abandoning it.
Russia has faced over 18,700 sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine, freezing $300 billion in foreign reserves. For Putin, Bitcoin offers an escape hatch. Russia is reportedly working on creating a national Bitcoin reserve, wanting to directly overtake America before Trump launches it there.
Putin sees Bitcoin as a tool to break free from U.S. dominance, while Trump sees it as a way to strengthen America’s grip on the global financial system. If Russia succeeds in building its Bitcoin reserve before the U.S., it could entirely move the balance of economic power.
Will Trump’s economic nationalism clash with Putin’s plans, or will they find a way to work together? Remains to be seen for now. Both men are extremely unpredictable.
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