r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 11d ago

Paywall Trump, 79, Seems Utterly Perplexed About Where Alaska Is - The president made multiple comments suggesting he doesn’t know Alaska is part of the United States.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-seems-utterly-perplexed-about-where-alaska-is/
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u/ExZowieAgent Texas 10d ago

My guess is Putin keeps telling him Alaska belongs to Russia and Trump, being the idiot he is, believes him since he believes the last thing he was told.

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u/Dodge542-02 10d ago

Easier for him to sell it back to Russia

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u/MississippiJoel America 10d ago

Or better yet, to cut Putin a trillion dollar check on the promise of "I'll leave all this land, as far as you can see, to you, right here, right now."

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u/Vivid_Pianist4270 10d ago

Nah, we can see Alaska from the tip of of Haida Gwii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) so they can probably see us. Canada says no too! 🇨🇦

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u/MississippiJoel America 10d ago

I think Sara Palin already tried to sell that one.

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u/HSBillyMays 10d ago

Maybe Trump's next plan is to invade Greenland and then try to sell it back to Denmark for a bunch of Ikea furniture.

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u/Boring_Track_8449 9d ago

Tina Fey sold it better.

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u/throwawayinthe818 10d ago

They’ll refund the entire $7.2 million we paid.

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u/ka-olelo 10d ago

I’m thinking Trump might buy Alaska from Russia.

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u/Finfeta 10d ago

Nah... Canada would gladly give him a much better deal.

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u/kgambito 10d ago

He'd do it in an instant if the money went to him directly and if the press coverage wasn't bad.

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u/Heretical_Cactus 10d ago

He will think he is a master negotiator when he sell to Russia something he think is already Russian

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u/5AlarmFirefly 10d ago

Sell, lol. More like give him billions in back rent. 

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u/BrooklynRobot 10d ago

Trump will think he is a great deal maker getting Putin to pay for land he already owns.

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u/lastchancesaloon29 10d ago

Art of the Deal.

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u/cnh2n2homosapien 10d ago

For a second I read that as, "sail."

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u/grandlizardo 10d ago

Some sort of deal involving Greenland, no doubt, and maybe Panama…

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u/throwawayinthe818 10d ago

Did you catch Putin talking about many Russian- built churches and place names there are there? He’s laying out the historical justification for it as historically Russian.

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u/bastetlives 10d ago

I noticed that too. Same framing. He started his public address with it, as the lead, and it wasn’t short. He also made a big point about how we share a border (phased as a relatively unknown fact eg “people aren’t saying, yet”) and how it was so “easy to transport tanks across” during WW2.

This is exactly how he talked about the current war, and those before it. Long historical discussions to educate about the former empire .. then the war action is a one liner “thus, of course this”.

Americans are not just uneducated but resistant to education (I’m American!). Many don’t leave their town, or state, let alone travel to other countries, or learn the history, and the history of propaganda.

The statement was propaganda of course. But it was not only ignored but not even parsed to determine the flavor of propaganda and the intent, and the intended audience.

It was too much acknowledgement of the locale for the occasion to be for the host alone. Plus over our heads. It was for the Russian media: look where we are. It used to be ours. So so close. We could go here next.? Whatcha think? Can you believe they are just letting me say this here?

Planting domestic seeds. Flaunting political global power. Kind of a big deal. We should be outraged. There should have been big Native American displays of ancient heritage integrated into American unity to preempt this kind of thing, and some witty jokes written about the price tag to rebuff their comparatively short legacy claims in a polite but dismissive way.

We got none of that, sadly. Plus, planes? Whatever. A sophisticated drone swarm airshow would have been much more pointed.

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u/MASSIVECARNAGE78 10d ago

That bomber missed out on doing the funniest thing ever while becoming heroes to most of the world.

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u/bastetlives 10d ago

Don’t comment to me about things like that! It is wrong. I’m reporting you.

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u/PerspectiveVast2883 9d ago

He is even more of an idiot than previously known.

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u/GutterRider 10d ago

Well said, thank you.

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u/MeanWafer904 10d ago

I've read that Russians schools teach that America only leased Alaska for 100 years and refused to give it back afterwards

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u/RubberDucksInMyTub 9d ago

That's frightening to me. 

Yes I know every country records history to their own liking. But in my mind, I like to think there is some sort of neutral party keeping the real score. Not a fan of fucking with history. Not only is it dangerous, but to change history is to erase and neutralize the true existence of humanity. 

Like if history is remembered and eventually understood despite not actually true, it makes everything meaningless, up to and including the current. 

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u/GatorNator83 10d ago

Trump mixed past tense to future tense. Putin told him Alaska will be a part of Russia, and Trump thought he meant like yesterday.

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u/jupitaur9 10d ago

“Did you hear Johnson’s warehouse burned diwn? Total loss. Thank god he had insurance!”

“Charlie! Shhh! That’s next week!”

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u/CMDR_KingErvin 10d ago

He may be an idiot, but he’s also an evil corrupt piece of shit and a Russian asset. This could easily be him laying the groundwork for literally trying to sell off a US state.

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u/robertson4379 10d ago

Hey - you are talking about the president of the US. The convicted felon/rapist/pedophile/racist/xenophobic/narcissistic president of the US. Give him the respect he deserves.

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u/justlooking98765 10d ago

What’s the process for losing a state? I wonder if he can actually sell it, because if he can…Alaskans are in trouble.

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u/Raven123x 10d ago

He can do whatever he wants because the courts and legislature are toothless and bend over backwards for him

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u/Trix_Are_4_90Kids Missouri 10d ago

In his first term his people were leaking to the press that he repeats the last thing he is told. that is classic dementia behavior.

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u/Fishtoart 9d ago

I guess half this country has dementia, because they also believe the last thing they heard.

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u/boredasf-ck 10d ago

I wouldn’t be surprised if he gave it away by accident

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u/ImGregoria Foreign 10d ago

iwasbornintheusa became iwasborninrussia

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u/Sus-Named 10d ago

The idiot keeps talking about Hannibal Lekter because immigrants request “asylum”!

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u/IJustLoggedInToSay- Illinois 10d ago

Doesn't matter if he believes it. Putin feels pretty strongly that Alaska is Russia's, and Trump is terrified of Putin. That's all you need to know.

Trump isn't going to say the words "great state of Alaska" and then look Putin in the face. He wouldn't dare.

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u/grantrules 10d ago edited 10d ago

He thinks United States means the contiguous united states because he's a fucking idiot. Bro thinks they're united because they're touching 

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u/dojo_shlom0 10d ago

yes, this is taught to russian children in school. it's russian propaganda and a Russian talking point 100%. this is information being fed to trump, from russia. he can't figure out how to say the name Putin or Mr. President. Mind blowing.

he's not capable of being the president. this is a weekend at bernie's situation.

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u/TheHaight 9d ago

He’s gaslighting to peel it off and give to Russia as part of a “deal”. Already talking about giving resources