Trump Is A Total Failure As A Peacemaker
When Trump was elected in 2024 there were two "major wars" in progress, one in Gaza and the other in Ukraine. It was a major campaign pledge of Trump that HE would be the fulcrum to end both, immediately. In respect to Ukraine he boasted that he would end the war even before his inauguration day. But in any case he said he would end it on "day one" , presumably on the strength and magnetism of his magnificent personality. CNN found 55 instances of Trump saying , during the presidential campaign, that he would end the war in Ukraine on day one.
We are getting close to the date where it by then would have taken Trump , at the least, (should a miracle happen) 150 times longer to end the war than he promised. If you told your boss you would get a task done and it took you 150 times longer than you said it would you would be out, and looking for a new job.
So, was Trump lying , or is he just totally ineffective as a "peacemaker"? If HE could ever be the means to end it, as opposed to a normal course of events, it would have happened already.
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related
www.arcamax.com /politics/fromtheleft/jeffrobbins/s-3738004
The Con and the Con Job: Trump Proves a Blowhard on Ukraine
ArcaMax Publishing, Inc. 5-6 minutes
Jeff Robbins on Jun 10, 2025
Last week we marked another anniversary of D-Day, the landing by Allied troops at Normandy, launched to liberate Europe from its murderous occupation by fascists. Thousands of young soldiers died in the initial phases of the campaign to free Europe; many thousands more would die before the Nazis surrendered.
Historically, June 6 is a date commemorated by American presidents, who point out how proud Americans should be to have stood up against tyrants. This year, not so much. Our sitting president, a convicted criminal who escaped with only 34 felony convictions by dint of the Royal Flush of political good fortune, used his family wealth to dodge the draft and has mocked those who in his view were foolish enough to have lost their lives serving their country. Having declared that he looked forward to being a "dictator" on day one of his second presidency, he has spent his first five months showing that, when he said he had absolute power as president, he meant it.
So as we pass June 6 and steam toward July 4, it's an awkward time for Americans to tout their past. Our current president's support for Russian totalitarian Vladimir Putin's attempt to violently strangle Ukraine -- support not merely tacit but explicit, not merely rhetorical but operational --- has stained America darkly. Celebration of America has been supplanted by shame.
Say this about Neville Chamberlain, the weak-kneed British Prime Minister who thought that by appeasing Adolf Hitler and handing him Czechoslovakia he could "make a deal" with him: there's no evidence that Chamberlain liked and admired Hitler, or wished him well in his future endeavors. By contrast, Donald Trump has made it crystal clear that he thinks highly of Putin, and believes that Ukraine, the victim of Putin's aggression, has somehow brought Putin's invasion on itself. It is a level of twisted that is hard to fathom, let alone untwist.
Reversing President Joe Biden's masterful orchestration of international military support for Ukraine, Trump cut off American military support and ended the crucial intelligence sharing so vital to Ukraine's self-defense. When totalitarians smile and their victims weep, it's a sorry time.
That's the large story. The lesser story is barely a story at all, which is Trump's relentless BS-ing of Americans about how he not only knew how to end the war started by Russia, but that he was going to do it before we could even say the words "bone spurs." CNN has documented 53 separate times during the last presidential campaign when Trump boasted that if elected he would end the war with Putin before even taking office or, at the very latest, "on day one" of his presidency. It's month five of Trump 2.0, and Russia, which is attacking Ukrainian civilians nightly as it occupies more and more Ukrainian territory, continues on, safe in the knowledge that America's president won't lift a finger to stop it.
America bought Trump's con-artistry hook, line and sinker. CNN was right: Trump's blowharding about his non-existent plan to end the war was a staple of his testosterone-suffused windbaggery during the campaign, and it was always the same.
"I'll get that done within 24 hours," Trump told one rally about ending the war. "Everyone says 'Oh, no, you can't.' Absolutely I can. Absolutely I can."
"I know Zelenskyy. I know Putin. It'll be done within 24 hours, you watch," he told another crowd. "They all say, 'That's such a boast.' It will be done very quickly."
Here was Trump during his debate with Biden: "I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelenskyy as president-elect before I take office on Jan. 20. I'll have that war settled. ... I will get it settled, and I'll get it settled fast before I take office."
And here he was during his debate with Kamala Harris: "I will get it settled before I even become president. I know Zelenskyy very well and I know Putin very well. I have a good relationship and they respect your president. Okay, they respect me; they don't respect Biden."
When it comes to Trump and Putin, it's not so much the lying as the appeasement that's the story. But journalist Bill Moyers was right when he observed "A democracy can die of too many lies." Best we absorb this before it's too late.
Jeff Robbins' latest book, "Notes From the Brink: A Collection of Columns about Policy at Home and Abroad," is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books and Google Play. Robbins, a former assistant United States attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment, he is a longtime columnist for the Boston Herald, writing on politics, national security, human rights and the Mideast.
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One day the war will end, and if Trump is still around on that day he will take credit for its ending.
That's how it works.
I'm pretty sure Trump was originally operating on the theory that as soon as he showed his "cards" in favor of Russia then Zelenskyy would immediately capitulate.
I'm also pretty sure that Trump also intended to withdraw support for Ukraine in the war. I can only imagine how he feels now that support is still behind Ukraine despite his lies about who started the war and which one is run by a dictator.
The sad truth is that Ukraine has no cards to play. Your problem is that you take everything Trump says seriously, where wiser people only take him literally. Neither participant wants peace, the back-and-forth war games will continue. The likely outcome is that Zelensky will be replaced, and Ukraine will capitulate.
Russia is a sick and dying country. Perhaps the Russian generals and oligarchs will figure that the Russian people have suffered enough and feed Putin some polonium soup eventually. Who knows? Biden made it much worse by kowtowing to Zelensky's begging for arms and ammo. At least Trump tried to help solve the situation, which is what great leaders do.
The USA has the cards to end this war. Trump, however, has no clue. All he has is bullshit (end the war with a phone call). When will his supporters recognize that this guy is full of shit and is incompetent?
Yeah, throwing Ukraine under the bus, cutting support, and claiming Ukraine started the war did wonders to "help solve this situation".
Good grief man, how can anyone think Trump is helping this situation?
Sometimes the comments on here sound like self parody.
So says Vladimir Putin and the Russian state propaganda machine.
Because Trump told them he was helping and his base has learned to not believe anything they see or hear that is not from Trump.
But his supporters ignore this and all of his other failings. It is irrational, but this is what is happening in our nation.
Russia is not a strategic threat to the US. Let the Europeans deal with this regional conflict
The Obama doctrine.
That is a naive and incredibly short-sighted claim.
I am in favor of Europe leading the charge to defeat Russia. But it is entirely naive to think Russia is not a threat to the U.S. You disregard Russia's cyber capabilities, military, and the fact that they remain enemies of democracy and US interests in supporting same globally. They are still a nuclear threat to the USA (and the planet), and are a threat to US global interests.
The Ukraine war is an attack on democracy. Trump's incompetence and stupid support of Putin embolden those who would seek to do likewise.
What support would that be??
He tried to make Zelenskyy the bad guy, blamed Ukraine for starting the war, publicly humiliated Zelenskyy and Ukraine and stated that they could not win the war, withheld support from Ukraine, etc. All this on the backdrop of: " Trump calls Putin ‘genius’ and ‘savvy’ for Ukraine invasion ".
So, now focus on this one bit, do you truly NOT recognize that Russian state media broadcasting video of the president of the USA blaming Ukraine for starting the war is directly supporting Putin??
Come on Jim, stop ignoring the uncomfortable truth.
Some supporters DO ignore, however, most detractors obsess........... Irrational indeed. No way to go through life but, some choose that path. Can't do the psyche any good..........
Do you recognize that Trump’s tariffs, handling of the wars, handling of immigration, violation of law, etc. is wrong?
Do you recognize that Trump is a stubborn fool who creates chaos?
Do you recognize that Trump is abusing his power to harm his opponents?
Do you recognize that Trump continues to harm international relationships?
Or do you refuse to accept this obvious reality and instead complain when others opine on Trump’s continual failures and wrongdoing?
No
No
No
No
Yes
[deleted][✘]
Remains to be seen.
No. He is what he is and he knows where he wants the country to be. If it entails a little chaos, so be it.
Like that's anything new LMAO with any politician
I am reminded of an old wise man who told me, "He who angers you, controls you". Surely not the case here is it?
All opinion........all of it. They can get on board and straighten the fuck up or try their style of Country First..........
Good for you coming around and all.
Yup, denial. No matter what, kick the can down the road rather than admit the obvious.
Nope. The results of all of your first point remains to be seen. It is still in its infancy. I nor anyone else is going to convince you to give it a rest. Too deeply ingrained. And that is not a me problem.
... and no one is changing the diapers.
You are merely repeating that you are just going to ~hope~ that this works out.
That's an end justifies the means approach ... not sure you want to go that route.
No, my glass is half full. Yours, by your commentary, seems to be not half empty but COMPLETELY empty. Sorry not sorry.
Why not?
Unsubstantiated wishful thinking is not 'glass half full', it is desperation.
Your comments ignore the bad and exaggerate the good of Trump. That is not a realistic way to operate.
A realistic way to operate is to recognize that acts such as imposing across-the-board tariffs DO NOT help the economy and will (if they are not stopped) raise consumer prices and could very well put our nation into a recession. All unforced. Trump is a stubborn moron, not some amazing genius.
The ends cannot be predicted comes to mind.
You're not supposed to compare him to "any politician". They don't like the fact that you call out their partisan antics and that they are willfully ignoring others only to hyper-focus on one.
The idea that waiting for the results are in before declaring something is a disaster or a success is foreign to some on the left is mind boggling. Until you throw Trump in the equation in which case the actual results are superfluous to making the declaration.
And just like that, we are back to 2017.............
And every day since. You would think that being wrong for that long would be a wake up call.
Then why do you think so many are declaring the threat of tarrifs is a disaster?
Making predictions is the bread and butter of market economists and the pros and cons among them have loyal followers. I stopped listening to them in 2008 just days before the crash when I attended a symposium at Concordia U, their advice was to dive headfirst into the housing market. The same 'idiots' are now chanting CRYPTO!
Notice the Freudian slip?
No. He was correct.