Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan
“Ever since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the darnedest thing has been happening in Ukraine. Every day or so, Trump says Russia wouldn’t have attacked Ukraine if he were president. And every time he says it, Russia attacks Ukraine. You might have thought that by now, Trump would stop saying it, since Russia’s continuing onslaught makes a mockery of his boasts. But he’s no more fazed by this falsification than he is by the evidence that he lost the 2020 election. He just keeps repeating his story. … The saddest thing about Trump’s Ukraine delusion is that he really could have deterred Putin from extending or escalating the war. But that would have required action, not braggadocio. At every turn, Trump refused to antagonize the dictator he thought was his friend.” (06/04/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/myth-of-trumpian-deterrence-putin-ukraine-russia