Summary
Democratic Senator Jack Reed accused Trump of “surrendering to the Russians” as his administration pushes for U.S.-Russia talks over Ukraine.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff suggested Ukraine’s NATO ambitions provoked the war and declined to blame Russia.
Zelenskyy, under pressure, said he would step down for peace if Ukraine gained NATO membership.
The Trump administration denies favoring Russia and claims its strategy brings peace closer without criticizing Putin’s invasion.
I’m certain that he owes Russia a lot of money, but now that he’s captured the US government you’d think he wouldn’t care about that any more. As you say, he obviously admires other dictators, but it’s still strange how unwaveringly positive he’s always been toward Putin - it’s not typical of him to never stab an associate in the back.
Some of what Trump does is against his own interests, and I can’t explain that, but most of the time he’s an opportunist; there’s no point in trying to betray people if they have the power to hurt you back.
He pointlessly antagonizes other countries with the power to hurt the US economically all the time. I think this is personal - it’s well-known he’s has financial dealings with Russia going back decades. He clearly feels beholden to Putin in a way that he doesn’t seem to with anyone else.
That’s a REALLY good point. It is really strange, since we’ve come to expect him to constantly renege on “the very biggliest best deals” and then say “So what? Winning lol.”
I can’t recall any time he’s ever put pressure on or even vaguely threatened Pooty either, and half the air out of his face is vague threats at people. Lol
It used to be easily explained by him owing so much to him, but Trump’s a full-on dictator now. Maybe kissing Putin’s ass is and old habit that’s hard to break? I can’t see Trump planning for when he’s no longer president and wanting to keep Putin in his good graces for that. Maybe he’s concerned abut his family’s safety? Not because he actually cares about them in and of themselves, but because they’re his legacy, the only way a narcissist like him could care about them.
If Trump ever loses power, he wants a country he can flee to without being extradited.
This would be a level of restraint and thinking ahead that he’s not capable of. It has to be something more personal and immediate - it’s the only thing narcissists understand.