During the 2024 presidential campaign, many Democrats — and quite a few Republicans — darkly predicted President Donald Trump would hand Ukraine to Russian strong man Vladimir Putin on a silver platter if elected.In his desperation to get a quick deal, the argument went, Trump would give President Putin everything he wanted, and Ukraine would revert to being a Russian vassal state.Democracy would die and an emboldened Putin would start eyeing NATO members as he put the Soviet Union back together.None of this has come to pass.To be honest, the situation in Ukraine has not gone as Trump expected during the first 18 months of his second term.
As he has often said, he expected Ukraine to be the easiest to solve of the Biden-era messes he inherited — and it has turned out to be the most difficult.NATO'S EASTERN FLANK RACES TO REARM AS TRUMP PRESSURE EXPOSES WESTERN EUROPE'S DEFENSE GAPTrump finds new leverage in Ukraine's fight against Russia.(Kacper Pempel; Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)But the president has been patient and kept lines of communication with both Kyiv and Moscow open.
His administration estimates it has spent more time on Ukraine than any other issue to date.Their persistence may be bearing fruit as Ukraine has started to claw back some of the territory Russia took in Donbas in the early days of the war.Moreover, reports from inside Russia are increasingly pessimistic about Putin’s chances for victory.On June 4, the House passed a bill authorizing an additional $1.3 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, as well as an additional $8 billion in long-term loans for military purchases, legislation that was unanimously supported by Democrats as well as 18 Republicans.Before Congress reverts to President Joe Biden’s failed Ukraine policy of as much as it takes "for as long as it takes," we need a dispassionate assessment of what actually happened in Ukraine under Trump.UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATOThe Trump-Zelenskyy re...