Trump, the self-styled 'master negotiator', has removed any leverage for Putin to come to the table. The only possible conclusions are either/some combination of a) he's actually a terrible negotiator b) he's indifferent to what happens to Ukraine c) he wants Russia to win.
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b) Punishes Zelensky for not helping him more when Biden was president. A personal revenge thing.
c) Everything he does is aimed at weakening the USA, Europe and their allies. Clearly a Russian agent. Putin has him over a barrel somehow.
B. He only cares about himself, making Money.
C. No other explanation makes sense.
What I don’t understand is what is the endgame here?
Putin will never be a reliable for the US or Trump / should Trump really believe this
Trump/Vance’s entire game seems to be to alienate former allies as much as possible
But why really?
Whether or not Putin is a reliable partner to the US as a liberal democratic country may not be a question that feels at all relevant to Trump.
We, in Europe, appear to be their natural primary enemies. It’s taken me three months to get my head around some of the consequences that flow from that.
I am scratching my head on a daily basis trying to figure out what the hell is going on here
And you may well have a point in that Trump and his offspring are worse than Putin
Vance / not family offspring per se / def seems intent on being even more vile than Trump
Trump is nearing 80 & viewed his 2nd term always as not much more than a vendetta to his ‘perceived’ enemies & a stay out of jail free card
But that still leaves V’s endgame
All they r doing seems self defeating/at least to me - I can find no logical explanation
At this point, there surely can't be any doubt that he wants Putin to win.
He has to supporting Russia to hold back China.
Unfortunately Russia is not super it is barely a power. And China is 10 years ahead and buying the world cheaply.
Russia will be emboldened and will interpret this as a US signal that it is no longer interested in Europe
Good luck thinking that won't affect the US
If Ukraine finds a mountain of gold and offered it to Trump he would switch sides instantly.
He has respects only strength and money.
He has no strategy, but knows a lot about wind.
He is without any redeeming features
He tries to bully all the time, but doesn't really understand the levers.
I would add 4) he's in hock to Russia for some reason...and has been for a while
I don't think the US involvement or interest goes beyond acquiring mineral rights. Peace talks are the leverage, not the objective
- removed sanctions
- called for Russia to be let back in G7
- allowed reopening of Embasseys
- suspension of arms to Ukraine
- A summit between the two leaders
- downgrading cyber security
Answer? A President
See also Iran negotiations
Whether it be collusion or some sex scandal or something? Would explain a lot!
https://x.com/jackposobiec/status/1896936803174945143?s=46&t=CW2wUgu0DhWavX1ewRWY1A
Trump was never interested in leverage over Putin, because Ukraine , not him, would pay Putin's price.
What he's lost is all leverage over Ukraine and Europe. There's no incentive not to fight on.
That's why he's so angry
Remember he never wrote the book “art of the deal”….doubt he even read it!
He’s gone bankrupt 6+ times!
He’s just a showman, and even that’s a generous description of him.