We have a sublime dummy at the helm of this government. That would be a detriment at any time in history, but at a time when China is under internal strains of its own, Iran is gearing up to become a nuclear power, there is a hot war between Israel and Gaza and between Russia and Ukraine, it is a singular disaster. As you’ve heard, Trump spoke with Putin on the phone for 75 minutes on Wednesday. New York Times:
President Trump said Russia planned to retaliate against Ukraine for its surprise attack over the weekend, after speaking to President Vladimir V. Putin on the phone for more than an hour on Wednesday.
“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Mr. Trump said in a statement on social media. He described their exchange as a “good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace.” The post briefly disappeared from the site without explanation, then reappeared.
Oops. There is never a time when Trump takes down one of his social media posts unless he’s getting massive heat for it, like he got for his Memorial Day post to the “scum” and “losers.” That piece stayed down after it was removed but the damage was done. The piece was screenshotted and went viral on any number of media outlets worldwide.
So why did Trump pull the post? It might be because Putin said he would retaliate and maybe that wasn’t for all ears. Or, it might be because Trump let it slip that there was no peace that was imminent — and this from the master deal maker who was going to stop the war in Ukraine on his first day.
Mr. Trump did not say in the statement if he sought to discourage Mr. Putin from attacking Ukraine. He rather expressed optimism over the prospect of working with Mr. Putin on another foreign policy priority: deterring Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions inquiring if Mr. Trump had pushed back against Mr. Putin in the phone call or why his Truth Social post had been temporarily deleted.
We’re not going to get answers to any of this. The plain fact is that all Trump has ever known is the television and social media aspect of government and he doesn’t know how to do the actual job of governing. So whatever happened today, it was the usual feckless, fruitless, flailing.
The post broke a rare, if temporary, silence by Mr. Trump on complex international affairs. The statement was his first about Kyiv’s drone attack on airfields in Russia, a stunning assault that hit nuclear-capable bombers, revealing a significant vulnerability.
That we knew. Trump was gobsmacked by Zelensky’s achievement. He only mentioned it in passing on Memorial Day. He flat out can’t parse it because he understands nothing of war and there’s no sense in asking Pete Hegseth or anybody in national security. Are you kidding? The term “blind leading the blind” has never applied more aptly than to Trump 2.0.
Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide who briefed reporters on the call, did not say whether Mr. Putin had discussed retaliation. But he described Ukraine’s government and its actions, including apparent attacks on railroads on Sunday, as “terrorist,” disregarding that Russia initiated the war with its 2022 invasion and that in recent weeks it had stepped up its regular bombardment of Ukrainian cities and civilians.
Even so, he said Mr. Putin had told Mr. Trump that talks with Ukraine were “useful” and they would continue. “This doesn’t mean we cannot hold negotiations, which are needed to bring about some kind of settlement,” Mr. Ushakov said.
Evidently Putin didn’t want the cat let out of the bag, that he had discussed retaliation against Ukraine with Trump — but numbskull had already tweeted it out into cyberspace. Or, maybe that was Putin’s desire, to use his useful idiot to tweak Zelensky, although I think Zelensky is wayyyy beyond tweaking. Zelensky has held on for over three years, against enormous odds, and he’s turning the tide in his favor. I speculate, and I feel confident speculating this, that Zelensky has written Trump off, if not before the Oval Office farce, then certainly thereafter. And Zelensky is under no illusions about who and what Putin is. Zelensky is going to handle things himself, and with Europe, and the U.S. is out of the loop.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told reporters on Wednesday that the operation over the weekend, code-named Spider’s Web, would not have been carried out if the Kremlin had agreed to a truce. “If there had been a cease-fire, would the operation have taken place?” Mr. Zelensky said. “No.”
Advisers say Mr. Trump is exasperated with both Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky.
He reserves special animosity, though, for the leader of the country that was invaded in the first place. Mr. Trump has told aides repeatedly that Mr. Zelensky is a “bad guy” who is edging the world to the precipice of nuclear war. But he has at other times told advisers that it is understandable that Mr. Zelensky is fighting back, given that he is in a war against an enemy who seems determined to keep bombing Ukrainian cities.
He tends to be more deferential to Mr. Putin, although he has at times expressed disappointment. He previously seemed to think that what he described as his “very, very good relationship” with the Russian leader would bring a quick end to the war. Mr. Trump has learned the hard way what the limits of American leverage are when he is unwilling to send Ukraine more weapons and money. He has considered adding more sanctions against Russia, but has so far held off from doing so. He has refused to endorse a bipartisan Senate bill, led by his Republican ally Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, that would impose harsh economic penalties against Russia.
After calling Mr. Putin “absolutely crazy” last month, Mr. Trump shifted his tone and said he wanted to give the Russian leader two weeks to show signs of progress. And now, he says he wants Mr. Putin’s help in securing a nuclear deal with Iran.
Great idea. Give Putin two weeks, like you would give a recalcitrant employee a two-week probationary notice. Swell. That’s going to accomplish so much. And as to Putin securing a nuclear deal with Iran, which is favorable to the United States, more cock and bull. Although certainly this bears scrutiny. At the very least, Putin will glean a lot of intelligence form Trump, under the guise of giving “help” with Iran and so it will be a win for Putin. All things involving Trump are a win for Putin.
Meanwhile, look sharp: The drone attacks by Zelensky, illustrating the possibility for great success in asymetrical warfare, show that the United States could suffer drone attacks as well. Iran thinks that Trump is a moron and this has been the case since Trump 1.0. That hasn’t changed nor will it, although the political regime in Iran may shift a bit. It will be incumbent on somebody in the United States to talk rationally with Iran but it emphatically will not be Trump. Who, then? John Bolton? Somebody along those lines? We are way beyond the pretend diplomacy of the likes of Steve Witkoff. We are getting to a crisis point here and soon.
Be prepared for anything. The last time we had this level of instability and nuttiness, the Iran Contra fiasco was born. And things were not as Bizarro World then as they are now. Anything can happen; including WWIII. Downer that that is, it’s a possibility that must be faced.
If Drumpf thinks Putin is going to do anything to help “broker” a deal with Iran (and, sorry, but I thought Drumpf wrote “The Art of the Deal”), he’s seriously more delusional than we already knew him to be. Iran is one of Putin’s few “allies” (for what that’s worth) and Putin’s not going to do anything to upset the mullahs who could start sending cash and weapons to the various ethnic Muslim groups (like the Chechens who’ve been giving Putin a bit of a break for the past few years; just what Putin needs–fighting Ukraine while dealing with Chechen rebels again) to make life even tougher for Putin.