Two things you will note in this brief clip: The first thing, which repeats itself every single day, is that Donald Trump clearly has hearing problems. This happens every day. He cannot hear a reporter’s question the first time out. It’s either a hearing issue or maybe a mental focus issue but in any event, it’s something that should be addressed. Trump is almost 80 and it would certainly be understandable if his hearing was getting impaired. On the other hand, he’s too vain to wear hearing aids because that wouldn’t suit his macho man, alpha male absurd persona. The second issue is neither physical nor cognitive, it’s characterological: the man is a complete coward, never more so than when dealing with Vladimir Putin.
REPORTER: Does your deadline for Vladimir Putin still stand tomorrow?
TRUMP: Say it — what?
REPORTER: Is your deadline still standing for Putin to agree to a ceasefire tomorrow?
TRUMP: It's gonna be up to him. Very disappointed. pic.twitter.com/x7dtQ5biZy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 7, 2025
It isn’t much of an *ultimatum* by definition if it’s enforceable at the whim of the person at whom the ultimatum has been directed. This is something out of a Peter Sellers movie, and I’m thinking specifically of The Mouse That Roared, although Dr. Strangelove also comes to mind, in terms of sheer absurdity. Trump was really going to sock it to Putin — but now that’s all gone and it’s up to Vladimir if he gets sanctioned. Or something.
Political commentator and podcaster Jo Carducci asked, “Up to him? Is that how deadlines work?”
Host David Pakman commented, “There’s reporting now that the Kremlin believes Putin has an ‘advantage’ over Trump in upcoming talks. Yes, Trump is completely enamored with Putin, of course that gives Putin the advantage.”
The anti-Trump GOP group “The Lincoln Project” called Trump “soft.”
“This is going to end like it did with Netanyahu, with Trump just telling Putin to get it all over with it as quickly as [possible],” anticipated reporter Nick Field.
Writer Bo Gardiner was incensed. “So our f—ing president admits he’s letting his own ‘deadline’ be controlled by the Russian president. Could Trump be any weaker? jfc,” he wrote.
“You see this invisible red line? That one there? Yah,” replied Canadian engineer Duane Storey.
Others referred to it as the TACO of foreign policy, an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Others were concerned that Trump’s senility was showing, claiming he appeared to forget his own deadline.
Trump frequently claimed on the 2024 campaign trail that ending the war between Ukraine and Russia would be so easy that he could do it “in 24 hours.”
“No one’s saying this can be done in 12 hours,” he told reporters in April.
Oh yes, there is that. It was going to be done with a phone call on Day One. And still the war rages on. And watch the deadline blow tomorrow. And watch Trump say, “Whut?” And then he’ll dissemble about how this was the plan all along, for Putin to do or not do whatever, because it’s all 12th dimensional chess, you see. Trust the plan.
Maybe Trump can get Taco Bell to cater when he has his next sit-down with Pootie.
TACO already, ahead of the meeting. Will we have another private meeting with notes being destroyed? My bingo card says T will accept whatever Putin says and which Zelesnky can’t accept so that Ukraine falls out of favor again..