The Road from Facebook to Trump's Truth Social

Trump as 4d chessmaster rhetoric comes from an obscure Facebook account

Author

mister mix
March 03, 2025

Trump has just reposted this on his social media platform, Truth Social: “Trump played both sides like a master chess player. In the end, Zelensky will have no choice but to concede…”

— Kyiv Post (@kyivpost.com)2025-03-02T16:21:58.650Z

So I guess Trump thinks he’s such a world historical figure that he no longer refers to himself with a personal pronoun. So what’s he quoting and where did he get it? In this case, I have a clue, courtesy of reader Gloria DryGarden, who many of us know from Balloon-Juice. She sent me a post that was floating around on Facebook, and I’m going to reprint it below in its entirety so you get the whole flavor of the thing.

The piece has a bit of a cadence of a sermon. It’s addressed to the faithful who are perhaps losing their faith (“OMG Trump screwed up”) and then establishes the credentials of the person posting, not with reference to the educational system or any other institution, but with a life of experience. It makes Trump a victim of persecution (huge theme in Christianity, which in the US occupies a position of privilege yet its practitioners always want to play the victim).

Once the MAGA readership is comfortable that they’re going to be fed some pablum, they can settle in for the story. It starts with reality: Zelenskyy did try to maneuver Ukraine into NATO, but it leaves out a couple facts (such as Zelenskyy’s offer to resign if Ukraine got into NATO). Then, it spins a tale that JD and Trump were protecting Zelenskyy from his own weakness. The mineral deal wasn’t extortion, it was Trump trying to get some Americans on the ground there so Russia would be unable to invade Ukraine. There’s no mention of Europe’s interest in Ukraine winning — we’re the main character here, which is pure MAGA ideology.

The piece assumes that China would ally with Russia against NATO for WWIII (when, probably, China would just do more of what it’s doing now, using economic strategy to try to get countries that are in our sphere of influence into their sphere after Trump alienates them.). It assumes that Trump actually had a strategy other than to do whatever Putin told him to do. (This is something that needs to be more frankly reported by the media and pushed hard by the opposition.)

The fundamental point is that it uses fear of war to obscure the incredible strategic and tactical opportunity that the US has by using the Ukraine war as a proxy war to weaken Russia. I don’t think any politician who supports Ukraine is crystal clear on this. By sending arms to Ukraine, much of which is surplus stock and older equipment, we helped a small, scrappy country make Putin pour almost a million men and most of his arsenal into a war that has mired him for three years, when he believed he’d achieve victory in three days. He looks weak, his military looks like a bunch of poorly-trained conscripts, and his equipment looks shitty. It’s just the realpolitik of the situation, not this nonsense that’s floating around on Meta.

Many of you probably watched what took place between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy tonight. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, you might be thinking to yourself, Oh my God, Donald Trump just screwed up.

However, as a lifelong practitioner of martial arts, strategy, and philosophy, let me explain the difference between what you believe you witnessed and what actually happened.

Donald Trump has been under constant political persecution since the beginning of his first term. Over time, he has learned to be patient and calculated.

Tonight, Zelenskyy was invited to the Oval Office. However, both Trump and JD Vance knew exactly what Zelenskyy was going to do—he would use this opportunity, in front of the American people, to make a power play. Both Trump and Vance anticipated this.

When Zelenskyy began appealing to the emotions of the American people, JD Vance stepped in, accusing him of disrespecting Donald Trump. This was brilliant strategy. It’s important to understand that Zelenskyy is trying to gain access to NATO.

Trump knew this but could not allow it to happen. If Ukraine joins NATO, the U.S. would be bound by NATO’s collective defense agreement—*an attack on one is an attack on all.*

Now consider the larger implications: Ukraine and Russia despise each other. If Ukraine were to become a NATO member, any future skirmish between them would obligate the U.S. to enter into direct conflict with Russia. This would mean World War III. And if that happened, China would have to choose a side—they would almost certainly align with Russia.

So what you witnessed tonight was a setup. Trump and JD Vance knew that the only way to achieve peace was to strategically align, at least on the surface, with Russia. Why? Because Russia would never sign a peace treaty if Ukraine were admitted into NATO.

This is why Trump dismantled Zelenskyy’s argument. And when Zelenskyy, seeing his play failing, tried to backtrack and offer a treaty, Trump refused.

Zelenskyy’s real intent was clear—he would not agree to peace unless security guarantees were in place. But what was he actually saying? That NATO must accept Ukraine. However, Russia would never agree to peace, knowing that NATO, their historical adversary, would surround them.

Zelenskyy, Putin, and Trump all knew this. Zelenskyy, thinking he had Democrats' support, believed he could make this bold move on live television. But Trump and Vance saw right through it and outmaneuvered him.

They knew that, in the short term, Democrats and the media would try to use this moment against them. But they also knew they had two years before midterms to prove their strategy was the right one. So they held their ground—**brilliantly so.**

Now, Zelenskyy will have no choice but to back down and accept Trump's terms. But here’s the genius part—Trump is actually protecting Ukraine without dragging the U.S. into war.

By negotiating a mineral deal, Trump ensures that Americans will be involved in Ukraine’s mining industry. This prevents Russia from launching an invasion, because attacking Ukraine would mean endangering American lives—something that would force the U.S. to respond.

Trump played both sides like a master chess player. In the end, Zelenskyy will have no choice but to concede, because without U.S. support, Ukraine cannot win a prolonged war against Russia. And once U.S. companies have mining operations in Ukraine, Putin will be unable to attack without triggering massive international consequences.

Don’t underestimate Donald Trump. In this game of chess, he’s 10 moves ahead of everyone."

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