After a period when President Trump seemed to be more inclined to the Ukrainian side, he now seems to be taking the side of Russia again. On board his plane the Air Force One he told reporters that Ukraine and Russia should stop fighting and that he wants to leave the situation in the largely Russia-occupied Donbas as he is.
And the British newspaper the Financial Times (FT) writes that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the White House went dramatically Friday. Trump is said to have urged Zelensky to accept the Russian conditions for ending the war and to give up the Donbas to Russia.
Based on sources, the newspaper reports that Trump warned that Russian President Putin will “destroy” Ukraine if the country does not cooperate.
Turn of Trump
A little over a month ago, Trump said Ukraine could win the war with the support of the European Union. Then he was remarkably positive about that. In a post on Truth Social, he stated that the country, with the help of the EU and NATO, can take back all territories occupied by Russia.
It seems that last Thursday’s phone conversation with Putin has changed his mind.
According to the FT and The Washington Post, the Russian president has made a new proposal whereby Ukraine will give up the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for small parts of Cherson and Zaporizha. Exactly that exchange would have been introduced to Zelensky on Friday.
Two sources told Reuters that they had the impression that Trump was influenced by Putin. Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest in a few weeks.
Screaming
Zelensky came to Washington on Friday in the hope of getting more weapons from the U.S., but according to insiders, the meeting degenerated into a screaming party, with Trump constantly cursing.
That this was not an incident turned out last night on board the Air Force One. Trump said the Donbas region - in southeastern Ukraine - should be divided “in the way that it is now.” “Negotiation is possible later,” he said. “Go home, stop fighting and stop killing people.”
The Donbas consists of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Luhansk is almost entirely occupied by Russia, Donetsk about three quarters.
What Trump is asking of Ukraine:
Pete Hegseth’s tie during this meeting:
The only thing I can think of would be irrefutable proof that the election was tampered with and that Harris actually won. That would either force him to step down and hand it back over to Dems or start a Civil War.
Anything else, related to Epstein or bribery or even if they came out and said he is a confirmed Russian asset and is purposefully destroying the USA because it’s in Russia’s best interest… none of the MAGAs will care. They will suddenly all have clothing that says I (heart) Moscow and shit like that. They ALREADY had “I’d rather be Russian than Democrat”.
There is absolutely nothing that will cause him to lose supporters but proof that he wasn’t actually elected would at least move the needle for the rest of the population.
Even then there would be a collective ‘oh that sucks, but without a clean election we can’t know how it would have gone so we will just wait for the next election and be more careful’.
I don’t even think that would do anything but cause people to cry about it online.