Part of the problem with Donald Trump’s humiliating failures in addressing Russia’s war in Ukraine is the fact that the president has struggled to settle on a strategy and stick to it.
Trump said he’d resolve the conflict quickly, and then he reversed course. He said the war was nearly over, and then he reversed course. He said he was poised to impose new economic sanctions on Vladimir Putin’s regime, and then he reversed course. He said a ceasefire would have to be secured before peace negotiations could begin in earnest, and then he reversed course.
But perhaps most importantly, Trump said Ukraine would have to let Russia keep territory that Putin seized by force as part of a viable resolution, and then he reversed course on this, too. NBC News reported:
President Donald Trump said Tuesday afternoon that he thinks Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders. Trump had previously suggested numerous times that giving up some land would be a key component of resolving Ukraine’s war with Russia.
In an odd and unexpected online statement, published after a series of meetings at the United Nations, the Republican said he now believes Ukraine can maintain its pre-invasion territory, while questioning whether Russia deserves to be seen as “a Real Military Power.”
The rhetoric surprised the United States’ traditional allies in Europe — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters this represented “a big shift,” which he saw as “very positive” — and it’s easy to understand why. After spending months aligning the White House with the Kremlin, effectively (if not literally) taking Putin’s side in the war, the erratic American president appeared to embrace an entirely new posture that bore little resemblance to everything he has said for months.
Time will tell whether the Republican changes his mind again, and it’d almost certainly be a mistake to assume that this will remain his position indefinitely.
But as the world assesses Trump’s latest declaration, let’s not lose sight of the relevant details.
Early on in his missive, the Republican wrote that Ukraine is in a position to prevail “with the support of the European Union.” He added that Russia’s war might fail altogether “with time, patience, and the financial support of Europe.”
Trump concluded, “In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!”
Some of the commentary that emerged immediately after the American president published this via his social media platform suggested that Trump was abandoning Russia. I don’t think that’s quite right. It seems far more accurate to say Trump was signaling his eagerness to walk away altogether, leaving the future of the war in others’ hands.
Trump promised Americans he’d end the war within 24 hours. He failed. He has spent months working on a possible diplomatic solution, and he has failed on that front, too. It now appears the Republican doesn’t just want to stop failing; he also wants to stop trying. He’s been hinting at this in recent days with varying degrees of subtlety. Last week, for example, during a press conference in the U.K., Trump said the war in Ukraine “doesn’t affect the United States.” Soon after, during a Fox News interview, he added: “It doesn’t affect us because, like, we have a big ocean in between.” The quotes didn’t generate a lot of headlines, but they were the comments of an easily distracted man who’d decided that he no longer saw value in playing the role of an international leader. After linking arms with Putin for far too long, Trump isn’t saying hello to Ukraine, he’s saying goodbye to the conflict, hoping to downplay the significance of his embarrassing and ineffective diplomatic efforts.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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