pull the strings

Men worthy of the word don’t hand over the keys to the future to billionaires who pull the strings.

His conviction means he is barred from taking a seat in the National Assembly but he is still able to pull the strings from behind the scenes.

Elena, however, demanded a separate denouement — one where she lived on as a puppet leader boxed in by Western interests who prop up her rule and pull the strings.

There is no way a behind-the-scenes puppeteer-slash-strategist would, for instance, pull the strings to make a Democratic administration in 2024 skeptical toward the idea of unencumbered abortion rights but fully supportive of the current Israeli government.

Trump knows well how to pull the strings on his supporters to get more money and how to instill fear into those who find him the boorish wannabe dictator that he admits he truly is.