Book Review: Collusion

Don’t mistake this book for being like all of the others about the Trump administration. Collusion was written by a journalist with rock-solid credentials including more than a decade embedded in Russia. Luke Harding has sources who go on the record and are legitimized in several other ways. He shares specifics about the US President’s deep financial ties to Moscow, Putin and Deutsche Bank – a bank with a history of fraud and deception.  

Collusion tests all of your levels of surprise. Trump turned to Russia for funding after he defaulted on a huge loan in the US and no one would lend him more money for a build. Russia’s money-lenders wrapped their arms around him. Collusion makes a solid case for quid pro quo that Trump was expected to deliver in return.

In other words, Trump is using the American administration for his own purposes, to pay back Russia for backing him when others wouldn’t. Now, how do you get people to accept this – or even consider it – when they are sure he’s a great person/leader/man?

I read the book with skepticism. Every time I thought – oh yeah, prove it to me! – Harding did. This isn’t a collection of rumours and innuendo. Everything is backed up with proof. If nothing else, it leaves the reader with the impression that Trump’s impeachment is only a matter of time. And considering the way some of his strongest defenders behaved after Trump hit Syria with missiles – crying, wailing, denouncing – it’s even more hopeful that history will see him for the selfish skunk that he is.