The Atlantic recently published an article calling for a 'reassessment' of Trump's Ukraine policy.

[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/07/trump-ukraine/683661]

But many will wonder - like Diesen, Mercouris and Mearsheimer from the online show The Duran for example - what policy?

President Trump's approach to Ukraine seems to be much like his approach to everything - haphazard and transactional - so calling it a 'policy' seems very generous.

  • He sent his real estate mate Steve Witkoff to negotiate with the Russians. Something they must have regarded as nothing less than a calculated insult. Dealing with an existential threat is not quite in the same class as brokering the sale of a New York tower block.

  • He flipped from 'hating' Zelensky to 'hating' Putin (a very Musk-like flip so at least he is consistent) when it became clear that Putin was not going to bend over like the EU did recently by agreeing to a massive trade deal that substantially benefits the US MIC.

  • He tried to frame the war as 'Biden's war' while continuing to supply weapons to the Ukraine to prolong the conflict thus making it his war, however much he tries to shift the blame back to Biden.

  • He gave the Russians an arbitrary 50 days to resolve the war, essentially treating it like one of his famed tariff deals - do what I say or else I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down (unless you sell half of it to me).

  • He'll supply Patriots to Ukraine but only if the EU pays for them - a war as 'bargaining chip' tactic that just looks rather tawdry.

  • He makes lots of noise about the need for Russia to avoid civilian casualties in Ukraine while ignoring the massive tragedy in Gaza perpetrated by his other mate, the 'madman' Netanyahu. Talk about double standards. But then in the end, Gaza is nothing more than another potential real estate deal for Trump.

Now does that look like a policy to you?

Trump's main Ukraine policy motivation seems to be ego-driven - namely to avoid being viewed as President 'Chump' in dealing with Putin.

But who really expects Trump to be better at this game than Putin?

Putin has been in power for 25 years, which is more than five times as long as many of the 'statesmen' he has seen come and go, and during that time he has dealt with many more wars and terrorist attacks than any of them.

While Zelensky was earning his chops as a comedian and later playing pianos with his penis, Putin was managing the brutal second Chechen war chock-full of beheadings, mutilations and terrorist blowback in Russia.

Trump would have to be a statesman of Bismarckian stature to get the better of Putin.

But he is not.

Although he does have a 2.8 handicap on the golf course. Bonus!