The end to the Russia-Ukraine war Donald Trump promised to secure on the first day of his presidency is nowhere in sight. On Tuesday, during a televised meeting of his Cabinet, Trump admitted that attempts to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin have produced little in the way of a truce, and that the autocrat has been “bullshitting” him.
“We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time but it turns out to be meaningless,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“I’m not happy with Putin,” he added.
When asked if he planned to act on his displeasure, the president quipped that he “wouldn’t be telling you,” adding that he didn’t mean to be rude but didn’t trust the “crooked” members of the media present.
Earlier this year, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance ambushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a public display of antagonism that broadcast to the international community exactly how much disdain Republicans have for Ukraine. A few months later, once the Trump administration had inked a rare earth mineral mining agreement from Ukraine, the president has held weapons shipments to the war torn nation in a start-stop pattern beneficial to Russia.
It’s not clear exactly why Trump changed his tune, but it might be related to a tense conversation he had with Putin last week.
“I didn’t make any progress with him,” Trump said of the Thursday call. “I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don’t think he’s there.”
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“It’s a very tough situation. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it’s no good,” the president added on Friday. “We talk about sanctions a lot,” Trump added. “[Putin] understands that it may be coming.”
During Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Trump was asked if he approved of the decision to unpause weapons shipments. “We want to put defensive weapons [in Ukraine’s hands] because Putin is not treating human beings right,” he replied. When asked who made the decision to stop the shipments in the first place, Trump pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
On Monday, during a state dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump told reporters that he would reverse a pause in weapons shipments to Ukraine he had implemented last week. “We have to,” Trump said. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now.”
Ukraine did not expect such an announcement, and had to scramble to get confirmation and clarification from the Department of Defense, according to The Washington Post.
Putin has been leading Trump along by the long end of his ties for years now, and one can only hope that the American president has finally managed to realize what has been plain to even the casual observer.
From Rolling Stone US
