Five takeaways from Trump's Ukraine summit (and his post-mortem on Fox News)
'That was given [to Russia] all because Barack Hussein Obama gave it away in one of the dumbest real estate deals I've ever seen,' Trump said, even though the international community still recognises Crimea as part of Ukraine.
Zelensky will have to meet Putin with bombs falling
Despite the concerns of European leaders, particularly German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Trump has made clear he won't push Putin for a ceasefire. That means that if Zelensky and Putin do have this purported meeting, it will be with bombs still falling. That makes for trying circumstances. Remember, on the flight to Anchorage on Friday, Trump said he would be unhappy if he didn't walk away from the Putin meeting with some form a ceasefire. Now he says it's not necessary at all.
Oleh Shamshur, a former Ukrainian ambassador to the US and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Institute, said the talks had largely failed as Trump still believed 'peace talks can advance while hostilities continue'.
But Michael O'Hanlon, foreign policy director at the Brookings Institution, said a ceasefire would soon become less important. 'If there is no reasonable effort by Putin to end this war fairly soon – and I doubt there will be – then this whole notion that we should try to negotiate peace will just seem to everyone like a play for time,' he told CNBC. 'Trump's pretty good at sniffing out that kind of tactical ploy.'
Europe will have to do the work but cede the credit
Trump clearly revelled in the role of ringmaster, and the White House duly pumped out photographs showing European leaders thanking the president, listening to him or inspecting his 'shop' of caps, books and merch.
One thing they heard over and over again was that Trump had already ended six wars – a dubious claim at best – and while this one was proving to be the hardest, he was sure he would get it done.
After leaving the door ever-so-slightly ajar to putting US boots on the ground as part of a peacekeeping force, Trump scotched that definitively the next morning on Fox News. But he did signal the US could support the Europeans with air power, as well as 'co-ordinating' the security guarantee.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the details of this arrangement were now being worked out.
It was one of many components that remained vague after the meeting in Washington, but overall the picture was clear: US involvement will be minimal but just large enough for Trump to take credit.
The one thing Trump is wedded to is staying involved
Gone are the threats that the US may walk away from the Ukraine-Russia conflict altogether. Trump is now in this for the long-haul.
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Not only is the US president desperate for the Nobel Peace Prize – he even cold-called a Norwegian minister about it last week, according to a German media report – but he feels ending the war is his ticket to salvation.
'I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,' Trump told Fox. 'I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.'
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