Getting Closer to Midnight

There is something very suspicious about Trump putting on his "big boy" pants when it comes to Russia.  I heard similar bellicose words a few years back and we know how that turned out.  This seems like nothing more than a set up for a big beautiful summit with Putin in the near future.  Hard to find neutral ground these days but the most likely place will be the United Arab Emirates.  

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has of course not been invited.  Putin isn't ready to confront his nemesis face to face.  He doesn't want to give him any legitimacy, don't you know.  The Donald seems fine with that.  After all, he's already met with Volodymyr, the most infamous being a White House visit where Donald and JD tag-teamed on him in an effort to make the Ukrainian president look small.  Since then Trump has been more cordial with Zelenskyy.  The most recent meeting being a tete-a-tete encounter at the Pope's funeral in April.

Trump finally seemed to grasp the enormity of the situation, pledging more military assistance to Ukraine if other NATO countries paid for it.  He said Melania reminded him of the cities Putin was blowing up each evening in Ukraine.  At that point he gave Russia a 50-day warning before leveling more sanctions, which he shaved to a fortnight after meeting UK and EU leaders in Scotland a week ago. 

Surprisingly that seemed to get a rise out of the Kremlin.  Dmitri Medvedev issued another one of his veiled nuclear threats, most likely with Vlad's blessing.  Trump was quick to counter by positioning nuclear submarines in "appropriate regions." Despite all the fiery rhetoric, the Doomsday Clock hasn't budged since being set up one second a week after Trump's inauguration.  That may change pending on the outcome of this proposed summit.

Unfortunately, there's no feeling anything will come of it as most everyone remembers how his North Korea Peace Accords turned out.  Trump felt he deserved a Nobel Prize for his efforts, including the first visit by an American President to the Hermit Kingdom.  He had Dennis Rodman's blessing, who apparently primed this meeting with "The Rocket Man" by telling anyone who would listen what a great guy Kim Jong Un is.  You might say Rodman was a special envoy for the White House.

However, Kim hasn't exactly been a reliable ally in the years since, at least not to the United States.  When push came to shove he was more than generous in supplying Russia with drones and other military equipment in its ongoing war with Ukraine and last year started supplying troops.  A number that has grown to 30,000 according to Ukrainian officials who have rounded up some of these mercenaries. They were sent to bolster Russian forces in retaking Kursk, but a few seem to have wandered onto Ukrainian soil.  

Trump hasn't spoken much of his former BFF since resuming public office in January.  He was very anxious to hide all the "love letters" from the FBI when they raided Mar-a-Lago home in August, 2022.  He didn't seem to realize these missives were property of the White House, not himself.  One of the many days that live in infamy in Trump's addled mind.

I don't think Putin will be as chummy as Kim was during his first term.  Vlad is not known for his effusive personality.  All those years in the KGB, where he was derisively called okurok or "cigarette butt," taught him to keep his emotions close to his vest.  Plus, he likes to give off the impression he is a very rational man with a great understanding of international law, which for years he got away with until he lost his temper over Ukraine.

It wasn't enough to retake Crimea in 2014 or create a land bridge through four Ukrainian oblasts, which he claimed to have "liberated" in 2022.  Putin wants the entire country and has been beefing up forces along the northern border for another assault.  This time he's not lining up his tanks and other armored vehicles in a 60-km convoy that proved disastrous last time around.  Putin has learned from his many mistakes, which makes him all the more dangerous.

No matter, says our Commander-in-Chief.  Only he knows how to talk to Vlad. They're great friends.  They go back years.  Even if Trump feels he has been played recently.  Mind you, this is a guy who thought Putin showed great savvy when Russia first invaded Ukraine.

So, everyone holds their breath in anticipation of this big beautiful summit.  Well, not really, as we know how it will turn out.  Trump didn't get the nickname TACO for nothing. It extends far beyond trade. Trump has never been one to stand up to anyone.  He wilted even before foreign leaders like Theresa May and Angela Merkel, never able to match his rhetoric with action.  You think he is going to stand up to Putin?  Not on your life.  We will just see more capitulation, leaving Ukraine and NATO countries to fend for themselves.

In the minds of many Americans that is just as well.  They don't want any part of this war even if it presages a third World War.  The hope is that Russia will shoot itself out like the Soviet Union did in Afghanistan in the 1980s and crumble apart leaving other countries to pick up the pieces, mainly China, which has already made significant inroads in Russia with significant Chinese presence in the Russian "Far East."  Just imagine the pressure that will place on our allies Japan and South Korea!

We may not want this war but it is there just the same and the repercussions are enormous.  Far more than Donald J. Trump or anyone in his cabinet would ever understand.  Just listen to Marco Rubio.  It is not just the empty words, it's the empty eyes.  These guys simply don't care.