Donald Trump is reluctant to criticize Vladimir Putin for the same reason he's disinclined to condemn Ghislaine Maxwell; both of these issues involve situations wherein Trump is substantially owned by those with whom he has had past associations and who hold information that could be personally damaging to the only person on Earth he gives a rat's ass about: Donald Trump.

"Why does Trump always give Vladimir Putin a free pass? Those are questions that have long been asked (for various reasons), ever since Trump entered politics. But no matter what the actual answer is (many have speculated, but nobody truly knows, other than Trump himself), the fact that Trump treats Vladimir Putin's Russia with kid gloves is an incontrovertible fact."

Well, why is the speculation fruitless? Is NOTHING known about Trump's relationship with Russia and its leader? Or are all the rumors (prostitutes, compromat, Trump tower deals, FRB source) so old as to be uninteresting by now?

I'd also like you to connect the tariff weakness that you document with the steady drumbeat of news over the past week or two about "Trump is no longer on Putin's side" in the Ukraine war. I seem to remember a stream of stories about how Trump is now authorizing meaningful aid to Ukraine in its resistance to Russia, which is remarkably in contrast to his administration's initial hesitation to support Ukraine in the first few months in office. The headlines, or commentary, is often along the lines of "Trump is no longer Putin's bitch -- WHY?"

Well, is he or isn't he? Tariff-wise, you suggest he still is. Ukraine-wise, the rest of the political press is suggesting he longer is, at least for now.

And not surprisingly, regardless of my request for you to get some answers that nobody seems to have, the "Trump has changed course regarding Putin and Russia" stories never have any explanation for why the course-change has taken place. If it has.