Talk tough but always back down. Not quite ‘speak softly but carry a big stick’ is it? But right now, with this president, it’s the best we can expect.
The world watched Trump greet Putin in Alaska like a long-lost brother. But it turns out the brother had all the cards in whatever passed for a negotiation on Ukraine. No ceasefire. No discernible deal on anything.
I expect the president was disappointed that his personal charm and deal-making skills only resulted in a great photo-op for Putin. America conveyed legitimacy to Vladimir Putin. Done and done.
But Putin massaged Trump’s ego by saying the words he wanted to hear…that he would never have invaded Ukraine if Trump was president. That may make Trump feel tough but why then has Putin more than doubled drone and missile strikes since Trump was inaugurated?
Trump had threatened Putin with “very severe consequences” if he did not stop his attacks on Ukraine, and on the flight to Alaska Trump told Fox News, “I won't be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire.”
Well, there was no ceasefire — but also no consequences. Or new sanctions because “the meeting went very well.”
And then, in the middle of the night, Trump revealed on social media that he had dropped his demand for a ceasefire and had agreed with Putin to go straight to negotiating “a Peace Agreement, which would end the war.”
What a great never-before-thought-of idea.
Remember 2018 where Trump humiliated himself and America by accepting Putin’s assurances that Russia had not meddled in the 2016 election? Disavowing the findings of our own intelligence that it had?
Well apparently they rehashed that convo, which was the only real point that Trump brought up at the nothing-burger press conference after their meeting. But this time Putin also assured the president that he actually won the 2020 election as well.
So we end with a rerun. Pres. Zelensky is scheduled for a WH visit on Monday.
And here’s the expected playbook…”It’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,” Trump said on Fox to Hannity. “I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit.”
More like Trump needs to get less involved. Can’t someone give him a distraction? Like a new Sharpie and a copy of the Epstein files so he can begin the process of scratching out his name and replacing it with those on his current enemy list?
A list that Vladimir Putin will never be on.
What a sad weak joke on America this all is.
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