During Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, he vowed to cut funding to Ukraine.
He also promised that he could facilitate an end to the war with Russia on his first day in office, if not before, although now he says that comment was made in jest, even though he made such a claim nearly five dozen times.
Trump is now doing a complete reversal on Ukraine, likely because he realizes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been toying with him this entire time.
It was not necessarily the issue of helping Ukraine that bothered people so much as it was the lack of accountability and the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was using the Biden administration like an ATM.
Trump, during the campaign, stated, “He just left four days ago with $60 billion, and he gets home, and he announces that he needs another $60 billion. It never ends.”
Then-candidate Trump added, “I will have that settled prior to taking the White House as president-elect.”
MAGA then started to turn against Ukraine, with Trump feeding the narrative that funding could quickly dry up if he were back in office.
In March, Trump ordered Ukrainian aid to be paused, doing so as a means of putting pressure on Zelensky to sign a peace deal with Russia.
When Zelensky pushed back, stating the end of the war was “very, very far away,” Trump went ballistic, responding, “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!”
Zelensky later clarified his remarks, saying that diplomatic efforts needed to continue, but the administration was by then in attack mode.
Vice President JD Vance also hit Zelensky, adding, “A lot of our European friends puff him up,” Vance said. “They say, you know, you’re a freedom fighter. You need to keep fighting forever. Well, fighting forever with what? With whose money, with whose ammunition and with whose lives?”
Trump is clearly upset at the games being played by Putin, especially after the Russian leader repeatedly violated NATO airspace. The president, rightfully so, feels as though Putin has been toying with him and really does not want peace, so Trump is now reversing course on his stance with Ukraine and providing more aid.
The president has openly stated that he will work with Ukraine and will approve Ukrainian long-range missile strikes inside Russia, and also share more intelligence with Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the change of heart from Trump, which is a huge pivot that will likely elevate tensions between Russia and NATO countries.
By the way, the recent airspace violations by Russia have led to Trump telling NATO countries to start shooting down Russian jets if they cross over into NATO airspace, which would, in essence, be the start of World War III.
I honestly thought the war would be settled by the end of the summer, and all signs pointed to such an outcome after Trump took office, but that now seems very long ago. I now agree with Zelensky that this war is going to last for quite some time, which could be part of Russia’s strategy to just continue draining our military resources. Something bigger is clearly brewing; it is just a matter of how big Russia plans on making it.
