We have a horribly weak president. That's obvious to us here in the United States, since Trump only gives an illusion of strength when he's dealing with people and organizations subject to his presidential powers.
But today the whole world saw Trump humiliated by Russia's dictator, Vladimir Putin, because Putin knew how to use to his advantage Trump's eagerness to submit to men more powerful than he is.
Even though Putin is 100% responsible for the war in Ukraine, having invaded the country for no reason other than Putin's desire to reconstitute the old Soviet Union, Trump agreed to Putin's request to meet face-to-face with him to discuss ending the war.
Rather than project strength to Putin, Trump acted like Putin's lap dog. Putin got…
— a meeting in Alaska, once owned by Russia, and still coveted by Russia
— a literal red carpet greeting from Trump, complete with warm handshakes and touches
— a flyover of a B -52 and fighter jets
— a three hour meeting with the leader of the free world
— a press conference with no questions allowed where Putin spoke first, for more than twice as long as Trump
— a seeming commitment to another meeting, perhaps in Moscow, even though no progress toward ending the war was made at this one
Last Wednesday Trump said that if Putin didn't agree to a cease fire in Ukraine at today's summit, there would be "severe consequences" for the Russian dictator. Well, there's no cease fire. Will Trump back off his severe consequences threat? Probably. Because as is well known, Trump is a TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out.
The Independent, a British publication, has a terrific story about the summit between Putin and Trump, "He rolled out the red carpet for an indicted war criminal and all Trump got was an invitation to Moscow." I liked it so much, below I've shared the entire story by Sam Kiley, World Affairs Editor.
I contribute to the Independent, as I like their take on the news from a British perspective. I learned a new word from this story, farrago. It means a confused mixture. Here's the story:
The backslapping bonhomie that started the day vanished into the stormy sulk and red glower from Donald Trump across a podium from Vladimir Putin who still glowed with success. The Alaskan summit was a humiliation for Trump.
His hopes of winning a Nobel Peace Prize didn’t crystallize in this meeting of super powers dissolved. Even the key word of the whole farrago “ceasefire” had vanished.
Ukraine and Europe, supporters of democracy and world order, were on tenterhooks worrying if Trump would repeat Putin’s demands and endorse them as his own. He has done that in the past.
Putin, clearly, had made no concessions. But, emerging from three and a half hours of talks, Trump and the Russian President had nothing to present to the world.
Trump said he’d call Nato, and President Volodymyr Zelensky, to update them on what has been discussed.
“We've made some headway. So there's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up Nato in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate. And I'll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today's meeting. It's ultimately up to them,” Trump said.
What will be up to them?
We don’t know but we can probably guess that Trump didn’t want to say it out loud, having invited an indicted war criminal to U.S. territory, applauded his arrival, ordered an air force flypast to honour the Butcher of Bucha, twice shaken his hand and then given him a lift in his top-secret armoured car “the beast”.
When he arrived, the usually icy Putin, who rolled down the red carpet like a prize fighter, pulled faces and seemed chatty and warm. He sat at a photo opportunity man-spreading confidently and turning to his team oozing easy confidence.
None of that had left him when he departed the press statement stage.
He was back on the world stage. The pomp of his visit and the spectacle of his emergence from international pariah to car-share buddy with the U.S. president was complete.
He was never going to deliver Trump a ceasefire much less a plan for peace in Ukraine.
Putin said, “The country is sincerely interested in putting an end to it [war]. At the same time, we're convinced that in order to make the settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict. And we've said it multiple times, to consider all legitimate concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe and in the world on the whole. And I agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally, we are prepared to work on that.”
So Putin was reiterating his mantra that war in Ukraine came as a result of the end of the Soviet Union, he wants that territory back in the Russian empire, and while he’s at it the new world order needs to be set back. That means he wants to see Russia’s influence back all over eastern Europe – a return to the Cold War Warsaw Pact that meant the Kremlin rules nations that are now western democracies in the European Union.
The U.K. and Europe, along with Canada and through Nato, have replaced the U.S. as the most important donors of civilian and military aid to Ukraine. Over the past week leaders in Europe, including Sir Keir Starmer, had worked hard on persuading Trump not to be steamrolled by Putin.
They’re worried that Trump and Putin will try to foist a deal on Ukraine which cannot be agreed and will not work. Trump has repeatedly endorsed Russian claims, at least, to the territory in Ukraine it has already captured.
He has agreed with Putin that Ukraine cannot join Nato. He has agreed that the U.S. would take no part on security guarantees for Ukraine in a future peace deal (although recently there are signs he may have softened that line).
Europe’s €250 billion in aid for Ukraine dwarfs the U.S. €114 bn. This year Trump has cut all military aid to Kyiv and insisted that Nato members stump up for Ukraine’s defence and their own. His efforts have been so successful that America remains important to Ukraine but it can get by with help from close neighbours.
Putin strongly hinted that whatever Trump was going to reveal in his calls to Zelensky and others – they were not going to like it. In other words, Trump was likely to parrot the Kremlin. Only this time Trump himself knows he’s going to look a fool when he does.
“We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won't throw a wrench in the works. They will not make any attempts to use some backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress, again,” Putin said.
“We're gonna stop really, five six seven thousand, thousands of people a week from being killed…And we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon. Thank you very much, Vladimir,” Trump ended by saying.
Putin replied: “Next time in Moscow”.
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Trump is a Russian tool. Always has been; always will be. Congress does nothing to stop Trump. Trump is enabled by the press, congress, the military, the courts. We are living under a Trump dictatorship.