In the last few days Donald Trump has made more statements about the Russian/Ukraine war that shows he is Putin’s puppet.
Putin told
a reporter “Kiev’s hysteria over not
being at the negotiating table between Russia and the US is inappropriate”.
Trump said he was “disappointed” with Zelenskyy for complaining about being
left out of the peace talks between Russia and America.
Trump
called Zelenskyy a “dictator without elections” with a 4% approval rating, and
called for a new election in Ukraine. It turns out (surprise!) that the 4% figure came from
Russia. A February poll shows Zelenskyy has the trust of 57% of Ukrainians, up
from 52% last month. That 57% by the way is 5% higher than Trump’s current
approval rating. Elections are not allowed during martial law in Ukraine and few
if any Ukrainians are calling for an election.
Trump
claimed that America spent $350 billion on the war, $200 billion more than
Europe. He then blamed Biden for making a poor deal “Why didn’t Sleepy Joe
Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe
than it is to us…” Trump then claimed half of the money is missing, suggesting
that it was misappropriated and that Zelenskyy didn’t try to negotiate an end
the war earlier because he wanted to keep the “gravy train” going.
The Kiel
Institute for the World Economy calculated that Europe has contributed $138 b
to Ukraine, slightly more than the $114 b from the U.S. Zelenskyy said that the
US supplied $67 b in weapons and $31.5 b in direct aid, a total just under $100
b. He also said that Ukraine is now stronger and more self-sufficient than at
the beginning of the war and is producing 30% of what Ukraine needs.
Probably
the most [bizarre, illogical, dumb, laughable, - I don’t know what adjective to
use here] comment was blaming Ukraine for the war. “…you’ve been there for three years… You should have never started it. You
could have made a deal.”
Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine was unprovoked and condemned by almost every country in the
world. In the days prior to the February 24, 2022 invasion Zelenskyy repeatedly
offered to meet with Russian officials with no reply. Several rounds of
negotiations were held between Russia and Ukraine in the weeks after the
invasion, but Russia’s demands were excessive and would cripple Ukraine’s
defense for any future confrontation, so were rejected.
Blaming
Ukraine for the war is like blaming Poland for starting WWII. It reminds me of
the bully who told the teacher “He punched me in the fist with his nose”.
Zelenskyy
explained the source of Trump’s many lies about Ukraine. “Unfortunately, President
Trump, with all due respect for him as the leader of a nation that we respect greatly…is
trapped in this [Russian] disinformation bubble.”
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/19/factchecking-donald-trump-claims-war-ukraine
Further reading
Two substacks today (February 20) provide excellent background information on Trump and Ukraine.
Heather Cox Richardson outlines the history of Ukraine-Russia-American relations from the end of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-19-2025
Thom Hartmann in his substack post lists all the ways Donald Trump acts as if Putin owns him and has been working him as a Russian asset, going back to 2016 and even earlier. https://hartmannreport.com/p/does-putin-own-trump-48b
Thank you for this.
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