War in Ukraine

we all know that he embellishes things and talks in generalizations so dont focus on that. But you be you.

 

You have it backwards, son. Donald Trump is, by far, the world leader in the last century that is MOST susceptible to flattery. There is no #2 in that regard. Trump is in a simple-minded, egotistical class by himself. He worships himself so much that as a failure of a businessman, his entire desktop in his office was covered with articles about himself. He spent a lot of his spare time calling radio stations claiming to be "John Barron" while talking up Donald Trump as a great guy and successful businessman (too dumb to disguise his voice). Trump not only loves to be flattered, he practically insists on it.

Any time Donald Trump flatters another leader like Putin, he is relating to them like he would like to be treated himself (with flattery). Putin, as a intelligence man and the leader of a country involved in a war that he is not winning, and as a leader who aspires to become remembered like Peter the Great, has absolutely no interest in flattery that does not lead to concessions. Dimwit Donald is getting nowhere with his attempts to flatter Putin, other than maybe getting a chance to put some Trump hotels in Moscow after the war. In short, Trump is a foolish idiot.

 

In fairness, I don’t recall anyone on this board stating they actually believed Trump would actually have a peace deal in 24 hours. It was hyperbole for “I will make it my priority and work to get it done quickly.” That said, this is politics. And the President said what he said, so the snark was appropriate. But I think we’re past the point of effect on the snark. If somehow (and I still don’t think he will) the President pulls off a diplomatic masterpiece of a sustainable, just peace this year, then it will not really be much of a retort in next year’s midterms to cry out, “Aha! But he did not do it in 24 hours!”

 

I agree. But the problem is that Trump has not made any progress towards his goal in three months. All he has been able to do is offer Putin whatever he wants to some extent, and blame and browbeat Zelenskyy for not signing over his country to Putin. Trump also refuses to recognize that Ukraine is holding their own in this war (and could easily be winning with the full support of the U.S.). Trump is applying no additional pressure on Russia (compared to what Biden was doing).

This is part of pattern of Trump's boasting without actually achieving anything of substance, just like with immigration. His idea of making progress seems to be deporting an innocent man to prison in another country for being in the U.S. illegally and committing crimes, when in fact, he was here legally and has committed no crimes.

 

You might be right, but we don’t know that yet. We would not be able to sense much of any “progress.” My assessment remains the same: the only measure of effectiveness is the deal being struck by both sides. Until that happens, the talks have not succeeded. And until we throw our hands in the air and say, “[Screw] these [screwy] Russians!” (the far more likely outcome), the talks have not failed. Until either of those scenarios have come to pass, it will be premature to judge how wise or foolish it was to make a show of dressing down Zelensky, gifting Russia a face-saving victory in Kursk, etc.

Off topic, but if you’re referring to Abrego Garcia, you’re a little behind in the narrative. The “Maryland man, law-abiding, legal resident with no gang connections” is now down to “admittedly an illegal immigrant, admittedly has strong evidence against him for domestic violence, human trafficking, and MS-13 affiliation … but never proven in a court of law.” This is why we tap the brakes and wait for all of the facts to come in before making martyrs of people.

 

I’ve heard this refrain countless times to explain away Trump’s facially stupid and/or blatantly false words.

However, nobody has any meaningful assistance to let us know when we should believe him, and when we should not. [For example, you all said Trump would never hit the global world with tariffs, when the idea popped in his mind in the campaign trail.]

If you, or anyone, can give us the code, it would be helpful to translating Trumpianese.

 

I think it’s stupid, too, when you can’t trust the words that come out of a leader’s mouth. Most politicians are guilty of using distortion, exaggeration, and half-truth to support their narratives, but this President takes it to another level.

 

Yep. Words matter, particularly when those words come from the President of the United States.

 

According to Russia, yes, since all of Ukraine belongs to Russia. In the sense that you mean, no. Ukraine withdrew in good order from the Kursk salient during the brief window the U.S. was withholding intelligence support.