“President Trump called on Ukraine to replace Volodymyr Zelensky as its leader and piled pressure on Kyiv to stop airstrikes against Russian oil refineries, a day after the U.S. leader announced a deal to boost Moscow’s diesel exports.
“I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump told reporters on Saturday, blaming Zelensky for Russia’s continuing war on the country—and Kyiv’s airstrikes for high diesel prices in the U.S. and worldwide. “He better damn well stop,” Trump said.”
No surprise. The Toddler’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, recently tried brokering peace — diplomacy for which he has no qualifications other than being the Toddler’s family — and said Ukraine ruined the deal by not agreeing to give up land to Russia. Imagine that, the Ukraine doesn’t want to give Russia what Russia can’t obtain by force. Needless to say, any promises Russia makes in return won’t be worth the paper they’re written on. However ending the war would allegedly benefit some of Kushner’s cronies, much like his envoy work in the Middle East. Given Kushner recommended not aggressively testing for covid during the pandemic because it would hit blue states worse, it wouldn’t be surprising if he considered dollars for him, defeat for Ukraine a fair deal.
And I’m sure from the White House’s perspective (and probably Republicans), having Putin recreate the old Soviet sphere of control as he wants to do would work out great. The Toddler’s National Security Strategy lists Western Europe as our greatest security threat — too many nonwhite immigrants, too much democracy, not enough power in far-right hands. White supremacists and fascists would be so much easier to deal with. Putin in charge would be, too.
I imagine Putin sees European democracy in the same light. Recent right-wing success in East Germany and a strong showing for the French far right may not be a natural outgrowth of those countries’ politics (though they might be, I admit) — after all, Elon Musk works to promote the far right in Europe. The Toddler administration unashamedly pushed for Viktor Orban to stay in power in Hungary and punished Brazil after convicting former president Bolsonaro for attempting a coup.
Game recognizes game. The Toddler undoubtedly understands someone like Putin or Bolsonaro better than he ever will Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton. Plus there are advantages in dealing with people who have no legal restraints on their actions: if Putin wants to throw a billion the Toddler’s way, who’s going to stop him? And these right-wing movements are all misogynist and white supremacist, which makes them compatible with the American right wing. It’s a win, except for Ukrainians and decent Americans. And American soldiers: Putin supports Iran which has injured hundreds of our military yet the Toddler’s still in Putin’s corner.
Lawyers, Guns and Money says the Toddler still has enough levers to pull that pressuring Ukraine might work out well for Russia, bad for Ukraine. I hope it’s not so. Certainly he’s getting frustrated, snarling to a reporter that of course there’s a ceasefire — he told them “you agree” so that’s that. Yeah, right.
