"His" money is Russian mafia money.

Russian mafia money is basically Russian government money.

People who threaten that money usually "commit suicide" by shooting themselves twice in the back of the head.

So he plays along. Plus, he's got money and fame. (And porn stars, underage girls, other perversions.)

Russians keep busy in America, funding NRA, racist hate groups, American media, stirring up trouble. Also hacking, hacking, hacking.

Putin says, "Run for President. We can probably engineer a win. If you say no, we have loads of stuff we can release to destroy you." (If we decide to let you live.)

At this point, it's Trump alone versus the entire Russian government. He's screwed. So he runs, fails, drops out, runs, fails, drops out. Russians keep hacking and hacking, funding and funding. Stirring up more right-wing activism.

Finally, everything clicks. Trump wins election.

And here we are.

Even if Trump wanted to put a stop to it, where does he start? There are so many layers. Peel them all away and he is nothing.

It doesn't help (us) that he is a stupid, narcissistic person. He has money and fame. He has personal power. He can hold a rally where thousands will cheer. All his personal needs are met. All he has to do is keep going.

The Russians are no dummies, they knew who to target. (No doubt they have tried this tactic with others and had some success, just not this much.)

What do we do now? God knows. All we can do is start cleaning up the mess a little at a time. We've lost a war most Americans didn't even know we were fighting.

I take some solace in the fact that people in the CIA and other branches of government have been aware of this threat for a long time and have been doing their best to fight it under the radar. I wish them well.