RUSSIA’S WORDS. TRUMP’S MOUTH.

Why does Donal Trump continue to spread Russian talking points pertaining to Ukraine? Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled by Russian forces, contrary to recent comments by Trump and Putin. U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, have shared that assessment with the WH over the past week. However, Trump has continued to claim that Ukrainian troops are surrounded in western Russia's Kursk region. U.S. and European intelligence assessments show that Ukrainian troops have faced intense pressure from Russian forces but they are not completely surrounded. Trump has said he hopes to bring a quick end to Russia's war in Ukraine. A claim by Putin on March 13 that Ukrainian forces in Kursk were cut off and would ultimately need to “surrender or die” is misinformation intended to show that Russia is offering concessions by saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Leverage created by lies to influence ceasefire negotiations for Russia’s benefit. In a social media post on March 14, Trump said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were "completely surrounded" and vulnerable. Putin said that he would do so if they surrendered. Does Trump not believe his own intelligence briefings? Does he believe Russian intelligence briefings instead? Or is he simply the country’s most gullible negotiator? Trump repeated the claim about "encircled" Ukrainian forces during a speech at Washington's Kennedy Center on Monday and in a Fox News interview on Tuesday. Will anyone in your party ever contradict him on this? Will anyone ask him where he’s getting his information? And to what end he keeps spreading this untruth? An American president should not be shilling for Russia and calling it negotiating.