What if Donald Trump's true intentions are even worse?

With each new floridly audacious statement by Donald Trump, his critics recoil in horror and pronounce that he has “said the quiet part out loud” — i.e., revealed his diabolical endgame for all to see. But what if he hasn’t? What if his true intentions are even worse?

We can only imagine what those intentions might be, but all the evidence points to a Trump presidency for life, with power unfettered by Congress or the courts.

Not much for giving public policy a lot of thought, he seems to envision his remaining days smiting his enemies, most of whom were only trying to get him to act within the confines of democracy, dignity and decency.

One of the most recent “quiet parts” was his outburst encouraging Russia to attack any NATO member not current on its annual dues. Another was his failure to criticize Putin’s likely assassination of two political opponents.

One way to read it is that these are powers he fantasizes for himself. He may not love Putin as much as he envies his unrestricted power.

But Trump certainly remembers that Putin helped put him in office in 2016, and is expecting and encouraging the same consideration this fall.

So if denigrating America’s friends and elevating our enemies is the quiet part, what might the endgame be? Some deal with the devil himself?

Here’s what’s keeping Putin up at night: His escapade in Ukraine has made clear American superiority in every aspect of armed conflict. Our intelligence is better. Our artillery is better. Our missile defense systems, equipment, technology, communications and logistical capabilities are all better, and not by a little, but by a lot.

Worse for Putin, the whole world knows it. Do not underestimate the shame and embarrassment Putin must feel as the world watches him begging the likes of Iran and North Korea for weapons.

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Without some shift in the world’s geopolitical tectonics, Putin can only watch impotently as his war drags on, revenue-producing fossil fuels go out of style and Russia’s best and brightest either leave the country or languish in dissident prisons.

What Putin needs is an American stooge, someone in deep financial difficulty with no morals who has access to American secrets — someone who treats classified documents like toilet paper and has, preferably, already been referred to in American intelligence circles as a security risk.

It would be icing on the cake if this stooge fancied himself a keen international negotiator, but in fact had a reputation for giving away American capital for pennies on the dollar — a campaign contribution, some glowing words of praise, or maybe a hotel. Someone for whom American greatness was a cheap marketing slogan, and a person so strapped for cash that he would interrupt a presidential campaign for a run as a shoe salesman.

In Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin sees his mark. In Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump sees his salvation.

Putin might not understand democracy well enough to know that winter opinion polls are poor predictors of fall elections. So he must look at American presidential polls unbelieving of his good luck — at a time he finds himself needing a way to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its NATO allies, history and providence have given him a most wondrous gift in Donald Trump.

Trump might feel the same, seeing the strong-man Putin not just as a role model, but someone who can help him further his own schemes of revenge and self-aggrandizement. Someone he can point to in front of his base saying, this is how a strong leader acts — jailing political opponents, invading peaceful nations and ignoring codes of international conduct and civility. Here are words no MAGA zealot ever said, or ever will: “This time Donald Trump went too far.”

How much damage a second Trump term could cause on the world stage is hard to know. Presumably world governments, including ours, are making contingency plans that will make it more difficult to compromise the West through a Trumpian allegiance to Putin.

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Even with Trump’s help, Putin’s hand is weak. He’s bogged down in a frightfully expensive war with no way out, and if he’s counting on Trump to sweep in and hand him an advantageous and brilliantly negotiated settlement on that front, we all know he will be sorely disappointed.

Trump, meanwhile, will no doubt be preoccupied with trying to smash anything with Joe Biden’s name on it and remain in office forever, which will bog him down in his own protracted war, not to mention the infighting that will inevitably break out in his own smarmy camp.

For both men, it’s a lot to put on any dictator’s plate.

Tim Rowland is a Herald-Mail columnist.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Donald Trump's true intentions could emerge with second term