It seems pretty clear that the only intelligence Trump has on Russia comes from Putin and his own personal impressions. He does not get that he is allying the US with a failed state. The same kind of failure he is trying to make the US by robbing us blind.
love this piece. I think you peg Putin and trump right down to twisting Ukraine to accept a bad deal. Of course one could postulate anyone from the CIA providing anything advice but what trump expects will be fired. Putin will manipulate trump with sweet whispers and promises that he has no intention of keeping. As long as Russia continues to advance on the battle field and trump fails to issue so "tariffs" or other punishment including arms shipments to Ukraine, Putin will say, give me 2 weeks to think about it then 2 more weeks, etc.
I agree that Trump will get nothing out of advice delivered by the CIA if he gets any. It is also terrible that our national safety is compromised by having a decimated intelligence agency with unqualified leadership.
Martin Belderson gives me heart because if Ukraine can keep getting support it will make the most of it. The EU clearly has to keep stepping up to fill the gap the US is leaving in support. We are truly losing our first world status. If Trump deals with Putin as on equal footing, and rumor hath it that Putin is advertising that he is going to get Alaska back for Russia, then he is mistaken. Martin Belderson's Substack is called "Ukraine: The Under Reported War."
Russia can be crushed if we just stay the course. Trump is the biggest interference to our doing that with his flirtations with grandeur as he plays the peace maker, something he is anything but.
Ukraine has the final word. As the EU picks up slack in supplying weapons, Ukraine's ability to resist is maintained or even gets stronger. Just last night, Zelenskyy sent Putin a message by blowing up three critical oil targets.
Here is Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat's brilliant analysis of the Summit.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/the-make-russia-great-again-summit?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
It seems pretty clear that the only intelligence Trump has on Russia comes from Putin and his own personal impressions. He does not get that he is allying the US with a failed state. The same kind of failure he is trying to make the US by robbing us blind.
love this piece. I think you peg Putin and trump right down to twisting Ukraine to accept a bad deal. Of course one could postulate anyone from the CIA providing anything advice but what trump expects will be fired. Putin will manipulate trump with sweet whispers and promises that he has no intention of keeping. As long as Russia continues to advance on the battle field and trump fails to issue so "tariffs" or other punishment including arms shipments to Ukraine, Putin will say, give me 2 weeks to think about it then 2 more weeks, etc.
It is plain scary to think of the Man from Orange in the same room with Putin.
I agree that Trump will get nothing out of advice delivered by the CIA if he gets any. It is also terrible that our national safety is compromised by having a decimated intelligence agency with unqualified leadership.
Martin Belderson gives me heart because if Ukraine can keep getting support it will make the most of it. The EU clearly has to keep stepping up to fill the gap the US is leaving in support. We are truly losing our first world status. If Trump deals with Putin as on equal footing, and rumor hath it that Putin is advertising that he is going to get Alaska back for Russia, then he is mistaken. Martin Belderson's Substack is called "Ukraine: The Under Reported War."
Here is his latest weekly post.
https://open.substack.com/pub/underreported/p/the-under-reported-war-issue-24-sun?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Three past bonus issues you should also read are about how Russia is actually doing in the war.
https://open.substack.com/pub/underreported/p/the-under-reported-war-bonus-issue?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
https://open.substack.com/pub/underreported/p/the-under-reported-war-bonus-issue-f5c?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
This has a time lapse video of how the fire power looks from a NASA satellite.
https://open.substack.com/pub/underreported/p/time-elapse-of-the-severity-of-fighting?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Russia can be crushed if we just stay the course. Trump is the biggest interference to our doing that with his flirtations with grandeur as he plays the peace maker, something he is anything but.
Ukraine has the final word. As the EU picks up slack in supplying weapons, Ukraine's ability to resist is maintained or even gets stronger. Just last night, Zelenskyy sent Putin a message by blowing up three critical oil targets.
“It is safe to say that Trump has no policymaker who knows Russia and Ukraine well,”says former U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria Eric Rubin.”
Excellent column Jeff, and I believe this may be the point!…:)