The laughably obvious dynamic of the Trump-Putin relationship never ceases to amaze many of us. It is just so painfully clear that for probably a myriad of reasons, Donald Trump is so scared of Vladimir Putin that he has, weirdly, turned nearly the entirety of the GOP into believing that Russia is the noble party to this matter and should be appeased by the most powerful country on Earth, even over and above American allies that have worked with us for nearly a century. This is true despite the fact that one can go back to the very beginnings, with Trump pleading to Russia, “if you’re listening… ” for assistance, or even looking at Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, handing campaign strategy to a Russian intelligence officer with ties to Putin, the theme has been clear and readily understood from the beginning, Putin owns Trump, so much so that the underlying reason really couldn’t matter less at this point. Putin so needs Trump in office that he’s helped get Trump elected. Twice.
Normally, Americans would run from anyone that the Russians wanted in the Oval Office, but that’s a different story.
So it is refreshing to hear from one of the nation’s most esteemed “old school” intelligence officers, the type that used to serve the country across presidencies, probably not voting, all in the interest of Americans, not one party. Perhaps it is in part because such a notion almost seems quaint nowadays that former CIA director John Brennan laid it out as plainly as ever for us on MSNBC (or “MS Now” as it will be called).
The network’s analyst Eugene Robinson asked Brennan how it could be that Trump went to Anchorage, stating that he needed a ceasefire, only to emerge spouting Putin talking points, that a ceasefire was not needed, and they needed a final peace agreement, even if it takes a while to do. Brennan answered: (Video below)
“Well, I think first of all, Donald Trump is quite intimidated by Vladimir Putin. I think he admires Vladimir Putin’s strength and his will in terms of prosecuting this war, is very unfortunate to say.”
Hang on. Hold up there momentarily. All of us can agree that Putin intimidates the hell out of Trump; we have pictures from Helsinki and Anchorage to prove it. But I am not sure that the word “admires” should be there. It is hard to conceive of Trump “admiring” anyone. It seems more like jealousy over Putin’s unquestioned power in Russia. Trump always thinks of Trump, and thus it is unlikely (at least to me) that he sees something he admires in Putin, only something he wants. And fears. Be that as it may, the point is overall well taken.
 “I think he realizes that he’s not going to move Putin off of this position. Putin has thought through these issues for many, many years, and I think he was determined to get to Alaska and to lay down the law, basically, with Donald Trump. And so I think Donald Trump gave in to him. And so that’s why he changed his position, claiming that a ceasefire is not important.”
Now that makes sense. We read earlier that Trump believed that Putin wanted to make a deal “for me” (Trump), and that’s par for this course. It is always personal to Trump, never about principles or even countries. So it makes perfect sense that Trump knows he won’t move Putin off his plan; perhaps Trump knows what he might have to give Putin in exchange for something. We all worry that Trump is practically ready to give Putin Alaska to get his damned Nobel Peace Prize.
“Well, I’m so glad that German Chancellor Merz and French President Macron, in that session in the Oval Office today in the White House, said that, yes, a ceasefire is important. We need to be able to move forward with that in order for there to be some type of trust generated, that any type of negotiations will be serious. So again, I just think Donald Trump doesn’t understand just how complex and complicated this issue is.”
Now this is insightful. It is nearly certain that the Europeans, having seen Putin intimidate Trump into a stutter, decided that they might use the exact same plan themselves. There is no way that Trump envisioned all of Europe showing up when he invited Zelensky to Washington back on Friday night. But once they said they were coming, there was no way to say “No” to them. Now we see Trump actually trying to find common ground between the two groups that intimidate him. Europe does it through sheer economic muscle and historic traditions, and Putin does it by… We cannot be certain. Knowing Trump as we do, it is slimy, at the very least.
It is refreshing to hear esteemed leaders simply evaluate the situation as it is. It isn’t often one hears former senior officials simply blurt out that the President of Russia “intimidates” the president of the United States. Shockingly, that was likely what today was primarily about. Another side stepped in to say, “So you’re easily manipulated? How about some of this… ”
It is almost comical. Trump may find a way to a peace agreement yet. But it won’t be because he has the strength to pound Russia into an agreement. No, it will be because Europe flat stood up to Putin, leaving Trump little choice but to run to the middle. And it will likely take European guarantees of security to ram it through because no one trusts Putin.
Not even Trump is dumb enough to trust Putin. That’s why the red carpet comes out, it is the basis for the stupid grins, and then the fear in the eyes after meeting. Trump never fully trusts Putin not to ruin him. We just don’t quite know the basis. We only know it’s not “admiration.”
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There’s no agreements to be made with people who keep breaking their word.
Not just Trump, we all know he can’t be trusted, a glance at the current post NAFTA trade with Canada confirms it, but Putin is even more duplicitous.
Don’t forget, Ukraine already has a treaty with Russia, The memoranda, signed in Patria Hall at the Budapest Congress Center on 5 December 1994, prohibited Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom from threatening or using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, “except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”. As a result of other agreements and the memorandum, between 1993 and 1996, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons.
Which Russia broke with their invasion of Ukrainian territory Crimea in 2014 and have continued with since.
How can negotiations with such people be trusted?
They can’t, the war will continue until Ukraine wins.