It is obvious to everyone that Donald Trump is a great admirer of “strong men” (a.k.a. autocrats) — and the more tyrannical, the better. And his favorite is clearly Vladimir Putin, as evidenced by the warm reception Vlad received on the red carpet in Alaska last year, and the continued leverage being granted in his pursuance of the war in Ukraine.

Trump has even mimicked Putin’s naming the war in Ukraine a “special military operation” by calling his own invasion of Iran a “military operation.”

Well, I guess we all have our idols — even malignant narcissists like Trump. So, if he really wants to let Putin know how much he admires him, I have a suggestion.

As reported both by Russia’s independent news outlet The Bell and by The Financial Times, Putin — whose economy has suffered greatly from four years of his non-war — has turned to his oligarchs for financial help, broaching the subject in a closed-door meeting with the country’s leading businessmen.

Thus far, at least two are said to have responded favorably: Russian Senator Suleiman Kerimov, worth an estimated $25 billion or more, has offered the equivalent of $1.23 billion; and metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska, with a personal fortune of more than $7 billion, also agreed to “contribute” an unspecified amount to the cause. Both men, not surprisingly, are already under sanctions by the U.S. and Ukraine.

And, as noted by The Financial Times, the request coming personally from Putin rendered it “all but inconceivable” that any of the others would refuse to help. [Ewan Palmer, The Daily Beast, March 27, 2026.]

It should be noted, however, that the Kremlin has denied that Putin actually asked for assistance, claiming instead that one of the participants in the meeting — whose name was not provided — had volunteered to donate a “very large sum of money” to the state. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the anonymous individual felt it was their duty to contribute; since he and his fellow billionaires had made their fortunes from businesses initially obtained from the government following the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, it was the least they could do to express their appreciation. According to Peskov:

“This was absolutely his initiative, and not President Putin’s. Although, of course, the head of state welcomed such an initiative.” [Reuters, March 27, 2026.]

Well, of course he did. And we all know how altruistic those oligarchs can be, don’t we?

Peskov also added that the “contributions” were not for the furtherance of the war in Ukraine. And if you believe that — or any of the rest of his bullsh*t — then I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.

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Anyway, the whole purpose of this story is to point out to Trump that he is missing a great opportunity. He has certainly done enough favors for his uber-rich friends (whose names we need not reiterate here), such as: “encouraging” Congressional passage of legislation in favor of their business holdings; overlooking blatant violations of antitrust, financial, and environmental laws and regulations; erasing criminal convictions with a presidential pardon; redacting and burying relevant portions of the Epstein files; etc., etc., etc.

Those guys owe him . . . BIG TIME!

So, instead of dealing in penny-ante stuff like increased tariffs, taxes, and job eliminations, he should try gathering all of those patriotic American gazillionaires into one room — preferably the one with a view of that future ballroom he’s so orgasmically excited about — and raking in some really big bucks by making them an offer they can’t refuse.

And this time — just for once — not putting the money into his own pockets.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/28/26