Yesterday 8:03 am
Putin is very skilled at answering questions. You're right, he knows the facts backwards and forwards. Then, he calculates what facts he wants to discuss and in which color light he wants to discuss them. He knows the questions he's going to be asked, because, ****, reporters really are that stupid and predictable. Putin, however will remain calm and calculated delivering his long-winded answers, not completely devoid of emotion. He can feign emotion as well as any skilled psychopath. Putin's verbal game is unbeatable for those who are stupid enough to come at him head-on. But, Putin himself is not unbeatable. He has hidden vulnerabilities.Cannonpointer » Yesterday, 7:32 pm » wrote: ↑ What you are describing is precisely what Putin does - off the cuff, regularly.
He fields questions routinely - and I'm not talking about from friendly media. I'm talking about from western media - the unfriendliest kind. He has absolute command of the facts, never falls into gotchas, always comes off classy and a winner. He doesn't make fools of reporters. He lets them do that to themselves.
I think a better response Trump could have made would be to tell the reporter that he would trust his agents in the field to identify gang members, rather than agents of the MSM.
I think if Trump pointed out that the American people and their Constitution tasks federal agencies - not news reporters - to identify and deport illegal aliens, most viewers would respond audibly to their televisions, "Damn straight." Then he might pitch a deal to the reporter - "Tell ya what. If you'll let my guys file your news reports, I'll let your guys go out and decide which aliens to deport." Then throw out a hand as if to shake on it.
And if he takes the hand, do that creepy middle finger thing. WTF IS that thing? Where ya fold in your middle finger on a hand shake? Some kind of man bun on a ten speed thing?
Trump is an entirely different animal. He is nothing like Putin. For that matter, I can't really compare Trump to anyone else. Trump says he's a deal-maker; not to be confused with a negotiator. Still, I don't see Trump as a deal-maker, do you? Right now, in Trump's mind, he is America. He scans the room, the city, the state, the country and the world, then makes a list of what he wants; what America wants. He sees a lot of strengths in America and then sizes up the weaknesses of his opponents. Trump's (America's) list of wants is a large and complex one. Items which might appear to be independent may actually have hidden strings of varying strengths tied to other things on his list. He targets opportunities; actively searches for them, notes and analyzes these opportunities in light of his strengths and others' weaknesses. Then, as all good real estate developers know, timing is 70% and meticulous preparation is the other 30%; also, no successful developer has only one iron in the fire!
As an example, Trump wants Greenland, among other things on his list. He sees Greenland and Denmark as "weak", and he thinks, given the right set of circumstances he can exploit this to his advantage. He floats out there the idea of Greenland becoming a territory of the US, just as he floated the idea that Canada become a state. He knows his ideas will initially be viewed as preposterous, and that many of them may never come to fruition. However, some will, and after a slow-burn, that's when Trump goes in for the kill. Timing is 70%. He just did this with Zelenskyy and Ukraine.