Thread by @tomiahonen

Helsinki Speculation Thread 1/

What happened at the Helsinki Hostage Summit?

Trump & Putin spent 2 hours 20 minutes alone, without any advisors. After the meeting we get this infamous photo, which essentially summarizes Trump. The Gimp & his Master. This thread is speculation

Helsinki Speculation 2/

What we do know is that Trump insisted there not be any advisors at the meeting. Unprecedented for a planned meeting. And it was remarkably long, 2 hours 20 minutes. After the meeting Trump took the interpreter's notes and tore them up. There is no record

Helsinki Speculation 3/

BEFORE the Helsinki Hostage Summit, Trump had been eager and enthusiastic about the upcoming summit. But after the personal meeting, he emerged ashen, as if frightened out of his mind, while Czar Vladimir the Smug wore that grin like the winner

Helsinki Speculation 4/

So nobody apart from Trump, Putin and the interpreter know what happened. Trump did NOT inform his advisors or the Secretary of State etc, what he had talked about.

BUT we can play detective. What can we infer? Trump was devastated, Putin triumphed

Helsinki Speculation 5/

My guess is that Trump had arrived with what he considered was a 'brilliant' plan. One that was 'fail-safe'. And obviously totally corrupt, that is why the secrecy. And Putin rejected it flat-out, but Putin managed to frighten the shit out of Trump.

Helsinki Speculation 6/

Two keys: Trump owed Putin at this point something to the tune of half a Billion dollars ($500 million). He also owed others like Saudis, the Chinese etc. But Putin is the Mafia boss here, who has lent Trump a huge pile of cash. That loan needs repaying

Helsinki Speculation 7/

Second, we did not know at the time, but found out from the partly redacted Mueller Report, that even late into 2016 election, Trump had a secret project going on about a Trump Tower for Moscow. This was a high priority for Trump, no doubt still in 2018

Helsinki Speculation 8/

My guess is that Trump's fail-safe plan involved the promised Trump Tower and some 'incredibly valuable' bribe-gift to Putin, plus half ownership in that lucrative deal. And this was to somehow absolve Trump from his debts to Putin (or part of them)

Helsinki Speculation 9/

You can imagine how Trump would frame it. Moscow's tallest tower, call it say Trump Putin Plaza. Give Putin the top floor penthouse. Suggest it would be most prestigious home on the planet. Something like that. What any two-bit street hustler might like

Helsinki Speculation 10/

Also Trump would have had real planners work on it, and Trump would then explain in childish delight how expensive and prestigious and VALUABLE that property would instantly become, paying back to Putin the debt with huge profit. Some real estate pitch

Helsinki Speculation 11/

Because Trump is a moron, he didn't know that Putin was playing Trump. Putin is the richest person the planet has ever seen. He is the planet's first Trillionaire. The only person on the planet who has BILLIONAIRES as errand-boys. Money here is TRIVIAL

Helsinki Speculation 12/

So whatever 'stable genius' real estate hustler scheme Trump had cooked up, and eagerly offered to Putin, Putin swatted aside, and rejected in the first 10 minutes. THAT explains the ashen face of Trump. The SHOCK in Trump's expression.

Helsinki Speculation 13/

Obviously any Trump Tower Moscow plan has been ended. That supports my thesis. Trump instead started to talk about his other Towers abroad like the ones in Istanbul, and Trump tried to get a Trump Tower into North Korea..

Helsinki Speculation 14/

But what explains Putin's grin? He held Trump for 2 hours and 20 minutes. Putin laid the law in that meeting. So dangerous, Trump tore up the interpreter's notes. And clearly Putin felt he got what he wanted.

Problem is, I cannot see what Putin gained

Helsinki Speculation 15/

I can see that the mid-range nuclear weapons treaty was ended. This is in Putin's interest, because when the treaty was signed, the USA had a huge head-start in cruise missile technology. Now Russia has caught up, and Putin wanted out of that treaty.

Helsinki Speculation 16/

I can't see what else. That does not seem 'enough' to justify his expression. Maybe it was also Syria, that Trump will let Assad remain in power? Or for some reason Putin wanted Nikki Haley fired at the UN. I can't imagine Putin caring about her enough

Helsinki Speculation 17/

Here is the KEY to Putin demands. Putin WON in Helsinki. He walked out of the long, secret meeting OWNING his gimp, Trump. Whatever Putin got was NOT in the works BEFORE July 2018. BUT it would take effect in coming months after that date.

PS

Sorry. I need to be clear. I am certain Trump thought he can get rid of his PERSONAL loan, in that secret meeting with Putin. And Putin refused, forcing Trump to find money - actual cash - to pay Putin from Helsinki onwards. That $500 million loan was not cancelled then.

PS PS

For those who missed it, before this Thread, I wrote a summary of the Trump-Putin relationship from the start, long before Helsinki - to today. You may find this helpful. It is not speculation

https://twitter.com/tomiahonen/status/1403431327140098055

To everyone in this thread

THANK YOU

You have helped distribute this Thread so widely, it has reached over 280,000 people on Twitter. (My own reach is only 80K). Very many of those people did not know much of Helsinki/Putin-Trump, you helped them understand it more.

THANK YOU