How Ex-Spies Think Putin Will Sucker 'Sociopathic Narcissist' Trump

[DonViejo]

KGB, CIA, and FBI veterans say Russia’s leader is well-positioned to dominate America’s president in their one-on-one meeting.

SPENCER ACKERMAN
07.06.17 2:27 PM ET

Foreign ministries around the world are filled with anticipation over what will happen when Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet for the first time at the G20 summit. But veteran U.S. spies who’ve studied manipulation tactics, particularly from their Russian counterparts, are confident they know what’s going to unfold.

Putin, a former KGB operations officer, will not just be practicing interpersonal diplomacy, they say. He’ll be putting his tradecraft as a spy to work. His main asset: Trump’s massive, delicate ego.

It won’t just be the expected flattery, from the spies’ perspective, though flattery is key to dealing with the “sociopathic narcissist” tendencies one ex-CIA interrogator sees in Trump. Putin is likely to stoke Trump’s ire, encourage him against his perceived enemies and validate his inclinations – particularly the ones that move U.S. policy in the directions Putin wants.
Nowhere are the stakes higher than in Moscow. The Trump-Putin meeting, say Russian politicians and Putin’s former KGB colleagues, is an overdue opportunity to equalize the Washington-Moscow relationship.
“Putin,” one-time KGB general Oleg Kalugin told The Daily Beast, “he has been in power for so many years and, by character, he knows how to handle things and how to outsmart others, including presidents of the United States.”

While everything about this meeting is momentous, the two sides are not on equal diplomatic footing. Russia’s interference in the 2016 election – something U.S. intelligence characterizes as a certainty, while Trump, again, casts doubt on that conclusion – has created a political maelstrom for Trump. Everything resulting from the meeting will be scrutinized in Washington, particularly amongst Trump’s political opposition, for signs of a quid pro quo. Meanwhile, observers have a hard time understanding what U.S. policy toward Russia, its decades-long adversary, even is anymore.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-ex-spies-think-putin-will-sucker-sociopathic-narcissist-trump

[highplainsdem]

1. K&R

[underpants]

2. Very interesting read.

I lost the link and it keeps jumping to another story by the same author.

Basically Putin gains a lot just being in the same room. As far as mental tricks - flattery and victimization. Lots of people went on record for this story.

The writing was choppy as hell I have to say.

[gratuitous]

3. "Never let the mark know he's been played"

Putin will fleece Trump without breaking a sweat, and toss him a bone right at the end so that Trump thinks he "won" something. That makes sure Trump comes back. Lots of stuff for Putin to steal; he can take his time.