Trump Pulls the Plug on Further Aid to Ukraine
What a day. The fallout from Friday’s rumble in the Oval Office continues and it is not good news for Ukraine. Although Zelensky caught some love from a motley collection of Eurocrats over the weekend in London, it was meaningless. More empty promises from European countries with no military clout and floundering economies, all vowing to support Ukraine, maybe. The UK’s Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, promised to provide troops and planes to secure a peace in Ukraine and then, moments later, conceded it would only be done if the US provided firm security guarantees. Trump already has said, “NO,” to that proposal and is not going to reverse position.
Then, late this afternoon, news broke that Trump had pulled the plug on providing further military and financial assistance to Ukraine. While Trump suggested this might be only a temporary hold, provided that Zelensky get on his knees and return to the Oval Office to kiss Trump’s ass, I think it is unlikely that the Kievan Cocaine Cowboy will wipe the white powder from his nostrils, clear his head, and apologize to Mr. Trump. Zelensky is too far gone.
Zelensky will bear the blame in Ukraine for alienating the Trump administration and you can bet that senior intelligence and military officers, who will now be denied assistance they were counting on, will turn their wrath on Zelensky. Whatever tantrum or defiant show of resistance Zelensky decides to present to the outside world, that will be short-lived.
Russia will likely further intensify its military operations against the Ukrainian forces, which already are suffering significant losses all along the line of contact. And the prospect for a quick collapse of Ukraine’s military appears more plausible as compared to the situation one month past.
At the same time that President Trump is turning up the heat on Ukraine, he has ordered the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State to review existing sanctions on Russia and submit a list recommending which ones to lift. I think one of the first to fall will be air travel between the two countries.
When the full truth of US financial support for Ukraine is eventually revealed, Americans will be shocked to learn that USAID played a pervasive and powerful role in funneling money to whip up public enthusiasm for Ukraine and to entice mercenaries to enlist. In addition, USAID funding to media outlets in Ukraine was a critical element in pushing memes proclaiming Ukraine as a democracy, Zelensky as a popular leader and Russia as military and economic basket case. With Trump pulling the plug on that operation, the facade of lies is being exposed and starting to crumble.
I discussed some of these issues on Monday with Nima and with the Judge: