How Trump is Making Russia Great Again

The President’s Mar-a-Lago press conference last night shows how he has bought into Putin’s lies hook, line, and sinker

After Trump’s phone call with Putin last week, I wrote about how the US President was selling out Ukraine. A week on, it’s clear Trump do everything he can to hand Russia a victory.

Yesterday, US and Russian diplomats met face-to-face for the first time in three years, committing to negotiating an end to the war Russia started without the participation of Ukraine, the actual victim of this war.

Then, last night, Trump made clear in his Mar-a-Lago presser that when it comes to Ukraine, he has fully bought into Putin’s lies. Four of Trump’s statements stood out for mimicking Russian talking points—blaming Ukraine and absolving Moscow:

• Asked whether he was less or more confident a deal would happen after the talks in Riyadh, Trump said: “Well, much more confident. They were very good. Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.” Let’s be clear: Russia is not at all interested in a deal with Ukraine. What it wants is for the United States to force Ukraine to surrender. While Trump is right that there has been “savage barbarianism” in Ukraine, all of it has been inflicted by Russians, who have mercilessly shelled and bombed cities all over the place. That’s not Ukraine’s fault. Only Russia is to blame.

• Asked to comment on Ukraine’s exclusion from the talks, Trump said: “I hear that they're upset about not having a seat. Well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily, just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without—I think without the loss of much land, very little land, without the loss of any lives, and without the loss of cities that are just laying on their sides.” Trump is right that Ukraine could have ended this war—but not by savvy diplomats to negotiate with Moscow. The only way Kyiv could have ended this war earlier is by surrendering—which is precisely what Moscow wants, and Trump now seems to support.

• Asked whether he would support Russia’s call to hold elections in Ukraine, Trump said: “Well, we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine, where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's down at four percent approval rating and where a country has been blown to smithereens. … And yeah, I would say that when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to -- wouldn't the people of Ukraine have to say, it's been a long time since we've had an election. That's not a Russia thing. That's something coming from me.” Holding an election when the country is at war, under constant bombardment from Russia, with 20 percent of is land occupied, is a pipe’s dream. Britain didn’t hold an election in World War Two; it focused on winning the war. President Zelensky was overwhelmingly elected by 73 percent in 2019 (a real mandate), and he still enjoys majority support even after three years of devastating war.

• Topping it all was this Trump statement, directed at Ukraine: “You should have never started it.” The idea that Ukraine started this war is utter poppycock, Russian propaganda that makes its way daily onto RT and other Putin mouthpieces. It’s a sad day when the President of the United States becomes another one of those mouthpieces for the President of Russia.

Trump is fooling no one. He’s become Putin’s most effective mouth piece and seems to be determined to Make Russia Great Again. Too bad that doing so comes at the expense of the people of Ukraine, of Europe’s security, and global stability.