Given the circumstances, Donald Trump should probably stop talking about the war in Ukraine. The newly inaugurated president repeatedly promised voters that he’d end the devastating conflict before he was sworn in a for a second term, and he failed. The Republican also promised the public that he’d resolve the crisis “within 24 hours” of returning to the White House, and he failed.
In fact, by accounts, Trump didn’t even try.
But instead of changing the subject and hoping people don’t notice the obvious fact that he broke one of his most audacious campaign promises, the president can’t seem to help himself. NBC News reported:
President Donald Trump suggested in an interview that aired Thursday night that Ukraine should not have fought when Russia invaded it. ‘Zelenskyy was fighting a much bigger entity, much bigger, much more powerful,’ Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. ‘He shouldn’t have done that, because we could have made a deal.’
The Republican added, “I could have made that deal so easily, and Zelenskyy decided that ‘I want to fight.’” In case that weren’t quite enough, Trump said in the same interview that Zelenskyy is “no angel,” adding that he “shouldn’t have allowed this war to happen.”
Trump on the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “Zelenskyy should not have allowed this to happen”
— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-01-24T02:32:35.952Z
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination. A few weeks before Election Day, Trump also blamed the Ukrainian president for the war, saying that Zelenskyy “should never have let that war start.”
An analysis by The Washington Post explained soon after, “Even in the context of Trump’s long-standing obsequiousness to Putin, it’s hard to understand how Zelensky would have prevented having his nation be invaded. He could, in theory, have taken the approach that many Trump allies have since endorsed: simply agreeing to cede some or all of Ukraine to Russia, a move that would have prevented the damage incurred to the country’s buildings but amplified the damage done to its sovereignty.”
Three months later, the president is again blaming Ukraine’s leader for the war Russia started. While it’s hardly surprising to see Trump echoing the Kremlin line — he’s been doing this for years — there are real-world consequences to absurdities like these.
In theory, the White House envisions a diplomatic dynamic in which the administration helps negotiate an end to the war. In practice, Trump is making it difficult, if not impossible, for the U.S. allies in Ukraine to see the American president as someone who can be trusted and relied upon. Indeed, while Trump is blaming Ukrainian leaders for the fact that Russia invaded their country without provocation, he’s also making hollow and meaningless threats toward Moscow, vowing to impose trade tariffs on a country that we’re already not trading with. In case that isn’t quite enough, Trump’s White House national security advisor, Mike Waltz, recently told ABC News that as far as the administration is concerned, it’s not “realistic” to think Russia will leave Ukrainian soil altogether, suggesting the White House envisions a resolution in which Putin is allowed to keep parts of Ukraine as a reward for launching a devastating and unnecessary war. Two days before Election Day 2024, The Washington Post reported, “[I]nside Russia’s elite there is a growing expectation that Donald Trump will win and that if he does, there could be a chance to end the war with Ukraine on Moscow’s terms and potentially redraw the global security map.” Nearly three months later, those Russian elites have reason to be pleased.
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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