By Askold Lozynskyj
According to The New York Times current United States trade with the Russian Federation stands at 3 billion in imports and only 500 million in exports, thus a trade deficit of 2.5 billion. The imports are primarily metal, aluminum, steel, and uranium. These numbers however are significant in view of sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 by every president except the current Trump regime. In 2013 Russia exported close to 30 billion and imported close to 10 billion from the United States. In his second term Trump has not imposed nor lifted any sanctions dealing with Russia.
While 3 billion is not a large amount of money in terms of trade between the world’s largest and relatively large economies and furthermore trade between the two has decreased dramatically since 2014, the fact that any trade continues is troubling. In addition, there must be a reason why Trump is imposing a huge tariff on Canadian metal while continuing to trade for Russian metal.
On this subject other questions remain. Why is Lukoil still doing business in America? Since the initial imposition of sanctions on Russia, Lukoil’s presence in America has remained pretty much stable throughout the 11 states where the franchises are located. But there was a reason. Russian gas was sent to a refinery in Sicily and from there distributed throughout the world.
That refinery in Sicily was apparently sanctioned by the European Union in December 2022. Now this conundrum is further explained that the dealerships are private and owned by Americans and Lukoil is no longer supplied by Russian gasoline but American. Prices have come down accordingly.
Every time I see a Karoline Leavitt press conference or a Trump Cabinet meeting I am reminded of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Napoleon the pig. Everyone refers to the Great Leader and offers praise. Ms. Levitt is never surpassed in this regard. She continues to refer to her boss as the leader of the Free World. In most instances even when she does not have the faintest idea how to respond, she manages to do so through arrogance. Arrogance is often a weapon used by the uninformed.
Putin’s Dimitri Peskov appears less arrogant or mendacious, but then he does not face any independent press. The American press mostly does its job and continues to irritate Ms. Levitt. She is thin skinned and very programmed, but new at her job. She is only 28 but did run for Congress at 23. She lost. While her education and biography are not particularly impressive, they are replete with MAGA indoctrination. She does appear to be a rising MAGA star and fealty should never become an issue with her. She needs to temper her manifestations of indignation. Her attitude has to be I am right and you’re wrong, but she cannot exhibit any human frailties. She has to be more robotic as per her indoctrination and less emotional. Transparency is considered a flaw within the MAGA circles. Karoline Leavitt does her best not to be transparent. The secret, however, for a press secretary is to appear to be telling the truth and that is where Ms. Leavitt fails miserably, when she is obviously lying or fabricating. Perhaps this is not her fault since her boss is very much an obvious liar. But everyone expects that from Donald Trump.
Thank you, Melania Trump. Apparently, it took some convincing, but Melania allegedly convinced Donald to sell defensive missiles to NATO members earmarked for Ukraine. The Russians had bombed a hospital in Ukraine. This touched America’s first lady. At least this is the story being spread by the Trump White House. Frankly no one knows what goes on in the mind of the stable genius, but the Melania story does offer a human side to not only a person but an entire family that thus far had manifested very little humanity.
Even Trump humanity has its limitations. America is not giving Ukraine arms. It is selling them for profit through a middleman. “Selling for profit” is the mantra of the Trump family. That’s more like it. Philanthropy is unknown in the MAGA world. Perhaps Ms. Leavitt can spin that.
July 18, 2025