Posted originally on Aug 2, 2025 by Martin Armstrong 

QUESTION: This may seem to be a conspiracy theory, but has a double been sent in to pretend he is Trump. The anti-ear old Trump has moved nuclear subs to the border of Russia, and the Telegraph reported that no president has ever played a game of nuclear brinkmanship. Trump looks different and much older since the election. I ask AI if someone could have cloned Trump. This is what it said:

“While theoretically possible, human cloning remains unlikely in the near future due to ethical and scientific barriers. However, advances in genetic engineering (like CRISPR) and biotechnology could change the landscape.”

KL

ANSWER: I fully understand what your suspicions are. I have no rational explanation for the 180-degree turn on war and embracing Zelensky and blaming Putin for everything. It makes no sense. Some have said this is Trump’s ego taking over, where he thinks he is king of the mountain. I don’t think he has been cloned. It may be possible to clone someone as they have accomplished with animals. But they would not be able to catch up by aging it. I would say the only remote possibility would be a double. Granted, when you compare the photos from pre-2024 and 2025, Trump does look older. His hair is turning all grey/white. But that may be just part of the job – it tends to age you rapidly. Many presidents had dark hair and came out grey.

I have spoken to political contacts in DC, and I was told they are hearing the same thing from many people. This is the style of Trump and his ego of using his position against an opponent, but this is not negotiating a trade deal. This is World War III. The danger here is that this is the path to nuclear war rather than conventional warfare. If Trump were to commit troops to Ukraine, then something is seriously wrong, and I would have to question whether he is a double. This is not the Trump I knew in March 2020.

I have publicly stated that Trump is wrong. These types of discussions MUST be by phone, not in public. Once you take to the open press, you will NEVER be able to negotiate, for now your opponent cannot yield or look weak. This is the most fundamental law of diplomacy. I have dealt in geopolitics for decades. When Merkel publicly stated that she intentionally lied and never intended to implement the Minsk Agreement, I was stunned. Europe lost all credibility in any possible negotiation. You only make such a statement if you have ZERO intentions of a peaceful resolution and all you want is war.

Here, Put’s response to Trump calling him crazy publicly showed that Putin understands diplomacy better than Trump. He rebutted, but without naming Trump specifically:

“As for any disappointment felt by anyone, all disappointment stems from excessive expectations. That’s a well-known general rule.”  Putin noted that ending Russia’s aggression against Ukraine requires “serious discussions – not in public, but calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process”.

Putin’s response was that of a dignified leader. Trump’s personal comment calling Putin “crazy” was a blow to diplomacy. This makes me wonder if Trump is being manipulated to sabotage any negotiation, leaving war as the ONLY alternative.

Putin said on Friday in response to Trump’s ultimatums that Moscow has begun production of its newest hypersonic missiles and reaffirmed plans to deploy them to Belarus later this year, posing a threat to neighbouring Ukraine and Europe. He publicly stated that the military already has selected deployment sites in Belarus for the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile.

As the Telegraph has pointed out: “Not even during the Cold War did a US president publicly move nuclear submarines towards Russian waters.”

I can’t even count all the emails coming in asking what the hell is going on with Trump. I will do a private post on what the computer has been showing. I really do not know. The computer has been forecasting that war tensions would begin during the last week of July. The monthly target has been August and September since the beginning of the year.

The EU, US, UK, and Canada agreed on February 26, 2022, to remove select Russian banks from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) messaging system as a sanction in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The disconnection of seven Russian banks—Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB), and VTB Bank—took effect on March 12, 2022, as mandated by EU Council Regulation (EU) 2022/345. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, was later removed from SWIFT as part of the EU’s sixth package of sanctions on June 14, 2022. Gazprombank was spared due to its role in energy payments, reflecting Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

Nonetheless, this served to intensify the incentive to expand BRICS for geopolitical gamemanship. BRICS was formed in 2006 as BRIC, with Brazil, Russia, India, and China holding their first summit on June 16, 2009, in Yekaterinburg, Russia. South Africa joined in 2010, making it BRICS, with the first expanded summit on April 14, 2011. South Africa saw BRICS as a platform to enhance trade and investment ties with major emerging economies. Joining BRICS elevated South Africa’s global diplomatic stature, giving it a seat at the table with significant powers. Membership provided access to BRICS initiatives like the New Development Bank (NDB), established in 2014, which funds infrastructure and sustainable development projects. China, a key BRICS member, actively supported South Africa’s inclusion to expand the group’s geographic and political reach, particularly into Africa. The US foreign policy has been usurped by the Neocons, like Bliken, and as a result, they have interfered in the world economy for geopolitical power reasons – not economic. This is why after 2032 the financial capital of the world will move to China because the Neocons are only interested in power at the expense of the American people, rule of law, and economy.

When we look at the first turning point on the ECM Wave of the Ukraine Russia War, we come to the typical myopic view of Neocons and how they only look at their objective in front of their nose and nothing else. It was right on schedule when U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued his warnings to China about its support for Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine during his visit to Beijing on April 24–26, 2024. He specifically stated publicly on April 26, 2024, in an interview with NPR, that the U.S. had already taken action against over 100 Chinese entities with sanctions and export controls and was prepared to take further measures if China did not curb its supply of dual-use items to Russia. This included machine tools, microelectronics, and optics, which were aiding Russia’s defense industry. Blinken emphasized that China’s actions were “helping fuel the biggest threat” to European security since the Cold War. That is really NATO, but he warned, “If China does not address this problem, we will.” Similar concerns were raised during his meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and President Xi Jinping, where he stressed that China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base threatened both Ukraine and broader European security.

Donald Trump initiated direct peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict shortly after his second-term inauguration on January 20, 2025. Specifically, on February 12, 2025, Trump held a phone call with Putin, which he described as “highly productive” on Truth Social. This marked the beginning of direct engagement between Trump and Putin on this issue, with further talks facilitated through intermediaries and meetings, such as those in Istanbul in May 2025.

That turning point of May 15th was the precise day of the peace talks in Istanbul. The talks failed that very day. Ukraine wanted a 30-day unconditional cease-fire, which it would have used to replenish its troops, and Russia insisted it had to pull its troops out of the. Ukraine refused, Russia’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, reportedly threatened to seize even more:

Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin “crazy” on May 25, 2025, in response to Russia’s massive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, which were described as the largest aerial assault of the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump made these remarks in a Truth Social post, stating, “He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” and earlier that day told reporters,“I don’t know what the hell happened to Putin,” expressing frustration over Putin’s escalation despite ongoing peace negotiations.

Putin keeps taking the high road and has not lowered himself to name-calling. Trump’s guy Steven Witkoff spoke positively of Vladimir Putin. He called Putin a “great guy” and “super smart“. Witkoff said, “I liked him, I think he was honest,” and “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy” (see https://www.newsweek.com/steve-witkoff-ukraine-ceasefire-russia-mistake-regions-annexed-vladimir-putin-2049224). All my sources, including people who have met with Putin face to face, all say the same thing. He is one of the smartest men they have ever met. Even Bill Clinton said the same thing.

The media has lied to start EVERY SINGLE WAR because that is what they are there for. Even Tulsi Gabbard found that the CIA project Mockingbird is still active, where the recruited journalists spread their lies. Here is the release of papers to dispel the lies that Putin was an Oligarch. I was in the middle of the plot to seize Russia in 2000, which brought Putin to Power, after I was told that they were blackmailing Yeltsin, demanding he appoint their stooge Boris Berezovsky as the new head of Russia. I know what the scam was, and everything the press says has been an outright lie.

CLINTON Putin Was NOT ‘Chosen’ by the Oligarchs

We will address the computer as it forecasts an array of markets that are all anticipating war from now on. Unintended consequences and misjudgments have often triggered wars. A prime example is World War I. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 was meant to advance Serbian nationalist goals, but it spiraled into a global conflict due to a web of alliances and miscalculations. That still exists with NATO today, which pounds its chest claiming it can defeat Russia conventionally because if every NATO member sent in their troops, Russia could be wrecked. That assumes no nukes.

Another case is the Iraq War in 2003. The U.S. invasion, based on faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction, aimed to neutralize a perceived threat but led to unintended consequences like regional instability, the rise of insurgent groups, and prolonged conflict. Misjudgments about Iraq’s internal dynamics and the feasibility of nation-building fueled chaos that lasted years.

HAS TRUMP LOST HIS MIND?

The only possible upside of this insane rhetoric is that perhaps the Europeans will get off their ass and demand political change among their leaders, or there may be no TV to watch next year. Has Trump realized that Europe will NEVER accept peace with Russia, so he is pretending to join them for World War III? This is the best possible outcome. Otherwise, I would avoid the major cities and all the military targets. In a nuclear war, you first target your opponent’s military assets. Second, you target the economic assets. Third, you seek to wipe out the major population centers.