Has the Trump-Putin bromance finally run its course?
It may not have been Churchillian in oratorical flourish, and with Trump everything is capable of being reversed in hours, but possibly, just possibly, the rupture between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has happened. If so it is a transformatory moment, and a vindication for both Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives in Rome for the annual Ukraine reconstruction conference and for those others, notably the British and the French governments, that have patiently helped the scales to fall from Trump's eyes about Putin's true intentions. At long last and after many false starts, the US president seems to have accepted he is unpersuadable on ending the war.
With Trump the separation is unlikely to be complete, or permanent, and above all Trump's disappointment in Putin may not translate into the kind of practical financial and support Ukraine and Europe has been seeking, but America First is no longer Russia First.
It has been a long process with many low points. In February it seemed as if the whole transatlantic alliance was on the brink of collapse, as Trump initiated direct talks with Putin, and ordered Ukraine to make concessions. On 19 February he echoed Kremlin talking point in a post to his Truth Social network that called Zelenskyy a 'dictator' and warned him time was running out for Ukraine: 'Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the US into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won […] A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.'
A week later at the UN general assembly in New York, the US opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity – voting the same way as Russia, North Korea and Belarus.
Veteran UK diplomats were then left shaken when the US then drafted and voted for a security council resolution that called for an end to the conflict but contained no criticism of Russia. The UK and France both abstained after their attempts to amend the wording were vetoed.
Later that week came the televised blow-out with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, followed by the hasty embrace of the Ukrainian leader in London by Keir Starmer and King Charles. The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, cheered on the White House from Moscow. 'How Trump and Vance exercised restraint and didn't punch this scumbag is a miracle of restraint,' she posted on Telegram.
All the while US negotiator Steve Witkoff revealed a depth of ignorance about the history of Ukraine and a sympathy with Putin's claims the war had been provoked. Frequently he tipped over from trying to understand the Russian perspective into siding with it. In an interview with Tucker Carlson that truly alarmed European diplomats, Witkoff asked: 'Why would they want to absorb Ukraine? For what purpose, exactly? They don't need to absorb Ukraine. That would be like occupying Gaza … But the Russians also have what they want. They've gotten – they've reclaimed these five regions. They have Crimea, and they've gotten what they want. So why do they need more?'
Witkoff also delivered a portrait commissioned by Putin of a bloodied Trump, fist-clenched, after last year's assassination attempt. Putin revealed he had prayed for Trump, and on 14 June he remembered the president's birthday with a phone call.
Yet by the end of March Trump's frustrations with Putin started to show as the Russian leader refused to commit to the 30-day ceasefire he had proposed and that Ukraine had quickly accepted. On 1 April the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, returned from eight hours playing golf with Trump to report for the first time that he was losing patience with Russia.
Still, even by the end of May it was clear that the process of Trump's patience wearing thin had an almost infinite quality. After fruitless diplomatic exchanges in Istanbul, continued evasions about a ceasefire and escalating strikes on Ukraine, Trump poured out his frustration on Truth Social warning that Putin was 'playing with fire' and declaring in the Oval Office on 28 May that he would know within a fortnight if 'Putin is tapping us along'.
This article includes content hosted on truthsocial.com. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
Mid-June came, and still no change in strategy.
A confluence of events may however have tipped Trump in recent weeks. The Nato summit on 25 June was gift-wrapped by Europe as a triumph for Trump on defence spending, making him better disposed to listen to Europe's security concerns. 'There is a line between flattery and self-abasement, and we happily crossed it,' said one European diplomat.
The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, called Trump 'Daddy'.
With his ego massaged, Trump sounded like a man less willing to be distracted by Putin. 'I consider Putin a person that's been misguided. I'm very surprised actually. I thought we would have had that war settled,' he told the media at the summit, revealing that Putin had called and offered to intervene with Iran.
'I said: 'No, no, you help me get a settlement with you, with Russia,' and I think we are going to be doing that.'
But the next call between the two on 4 July did not go well either, and it seemed as if Putin had determined he could extract more by war than by keeping Trump sweet. The Kremlin was uncompromising: 'Our president said that Russia will achieve its goals, that is, the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,' said Yuri Ushakov, a close adviser to the Russian leader. 'Russia will not back down from these goals.'
The deadly nightly Russian assaults on Ukraine (the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said Russia had launched 20,000 drone strikes this year) could not be kept from US screens and, finally, Trump was not happy when it emerged last week that the Pentagon was withholding a shipment of arms earmarked for Ukraine and no one informed the White House. The defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, looked distinctly uncomfortable.
For Ukraine's supporters in Congress and in Europe, the issue now is the extent to which Trump's frustration with Russia transmits into practical support for Kyiv. The true test will come if the crushing sanctions tabled months ago by Republican senator Lindsey Graham are finally given presidential go-ahead. The measure would impose a 500% tariff on imports from any nation that purchases Russian uranium, gas or oil, with India and China the worst affected.
Lord Mandelson, the UK ambassador to the US, has been working behind the scenes to refine Graham's blunderbuss so the proposed secondary sanctions do not catch European firms in their net.
Graham is now proposing a carve-out to his bill to spare countries who still import Russian gas, but have supported Ukraine in their three-year war with the Kremlin's military. The bill also give Trump the right to waive sanctions on nations purchasing Russian oil or uranium for 180 days and, in its revised form, a second 180-day waiver is proposed.
'We're moving,' Graham said after Trump's diatribe against Putin, adding that Trump 'told me it's time to move so we're going to move'. For Ukrainians on the frontline, they can only hope a turning point has come.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
21 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
'The working class must take back what is ours': Imagining James Connolly's Ireland
James Connolly is well-known for being a socialist and revolutionary leader in the fight for Irish independence, as well as a champion for the working class. "A revolution will only be achieved when the ordinary people of the world, us, the working class, get up off our knees and take back what is rightfully ours," is one of his famous quotes. Advertisement According to Dictionary of Irish Biography, Connolly arrived at a view that the future for socialism and the working class in Ireland lay in an independent republic rather than in continued union with Britain or in a federal arrangement involving home rule. This was quickly reflected in his and his colleagues' decision to disband the Dublin Socialist Club and to establish in its place the Irish Socialist Republican Party (ISRP). His manifesto for the new party was radical and ahead of its time, calling for free education and child health care, nationalisation of transport and banking, and a commitment to the further extension of public ownership. Connolly spent seven years (1903-1910) in the United States and, during that time, was instrumental in the development of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) militant labour organisation. Advertisement The group promoted the ideology of revolutionary syndicalism or industrial unionism, recruiting among the huge mass of unskilled and general labour in the USA. Connolly recruited Irish and Italian workers in New York for the IWW. Promoting socialism in Ireland The Dictionary of Irish Biography said Connolly's commitment to promoting socialism among the Irish was evident in his foundation of the Irish Socialist Federation in 1907. It was through its agency that he began to re-establish links with socialists in Ireland, notably with his former ISRP colleague, William O'Brien. By 1908, both he and O'Brien's Dublin socialists were considering the possibility of his coming back to be organiser for the newly emerging Socialist Party of Ireland (SPI). Advertisement The period after his return from the US saw much of the most significant theoretical and practical work of his life. In 1910, he published the important tract Labour, nationality and religion, written to rebut the attacks of the Jesuit Father Kane on socialism and to contest the notion that catholicism and socialism were irreconcilable. In the same year he also brought to publication his most famous work, Labour in Irish History. This was the first substantial exposition of a Marxist interpretation of Irish history. Highly original in some if its findings, the Dictionary of Irish Biography said it argued for the continuity of a radical tradition in Ireland, and sought to debunk nationalist myths about Ireland's past and to expose the inadequacies of middle-class Irish nationalism in providing a solution for Ireland's ills. Advertisement Easter Rising: Connolly the revolutionary During a period of time spent in Belfast, Connolly hoped to inspire union growth and socialist progress, but this agenda was quickly overtaken by the events of the lockout and general strike in Dublin from August 1913. He was summoned to Dublin to assist Larkin in the leadership of this conflict, and, when the struggle was lost and Larkin left for America in 1914, Connolly took over as acting general secretary of the defeated Transport Union. To the disastrous defeat of the locked out and striking workers was now added the calamitous outbreak of world war. This drove Connolly into an advanced nationalist position and, though he never abandoned his socialist commitment, the social revolution took a back seat. The Dictionary of Irish Biography said the growing militancy of Ulster unionist opposition to home rule, the British government's postponement of plans for home rule in the face of unionist opposition, the growing prospect of the partition of Ireland, the outbreak of world war, and the consequent collapse of international socialism, all contributed to his adopting an extreme nationalist stance. Advertisement As he wrote in Forward in March 1914: "The proposal of the Government to consent to the partition of Ireland . . . should be resisted with armed force if necessary." Connolly said that the "carnival of slaughter" that was the world war drove him to incite "war against war", and to make tentative overtures to the revolutionary IRB. By late 1915, his increasing militancy at a time when the IRB had decided on insurrection caused them in turn to approach him; by late January they and he had agreed on a joint uprising. The Transport Union headquarters at Liberty Hall became the headquarters of the Irish Citizen Army as he prepared it for revolt. The Dictionary of Irish Biography pointed out that it was ironic that Connolly, who had always argued that political freedom without socialism was useless, now joined forces with militant nationalists in an insurrection that had nothing to do directly with socialism. It seems that Connolly believed national freedom for Ireland in the circumstances was a necessity before socialism could advance. In the event, he led his small band of about 200 Citizen Army comrades into the Easter Rising of 1916. His Citizen Army joined forces with the Volunteers, as the only army he acknowledged in 1916 was that of 'the Irish Republic'. As commandant general of the Republic's forces in Dublin, he fought side by side with Patrick Pearse in the General Post Office (GPO), until surrendering on April 29th. Connolly was badly injured in the foot, and was court-martialled along with 170 others. He was one of 90 to be sentenced to death, and was the last one of the 15 to be executed by firing squad. He was shot dead, seated on a wooden box, in Kilmainham Gaol on May 12th, 1916. Connolly was buried in the cemetery within Arbour Hill military barracks, and his wife and six of his children survived him. James Connolly's vision for Ireland would make the country a very different place to live in today. While all the participants in the Easter Rising shared the goal of Irish independence, each had their own ideas about what kind of Ireland should emerge afterward. If he had survived and lived beyond 1916, possibly becoming Taoiseach, it is fair to say Connolly's Ireland would be more socialist, secular, and worker-led in structure. He had envisioned a workers' republic where industry and land were publicly owned and democratically managed, and was not just simply fighting for Irish independence, but for the Irish working class.
The Guardian
21 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump administration denies daily quota for immigration arrests
In a new court filing, attorneys for the Trump administration denied the existence of a daily quota for immigration arrests, despite reports and prior statements from White House officials about pursuing a goal of at least 3,000 deportations or deportation arrests per day. In May, reports from both the Guardian and Axios revealed that during a meeting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) leaders on 21 May, the White House adviser Stephen Miller and the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, demanded that immigration agents seek to arrest 3,000 people per day. Following that report, Miller appeared on Fox News in late May and stated that 'under President Trump's leadership, we are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for Ice every day.' He added that Trump 'is going to keep pushing to get that number up higher each and every day'. However, in a court filing on Friday, lawyers representing the US justice department said that the Department of Homeland Security had confirmed that 'neither Ice leadership nor its field offices have been directed to meet any numerical quota or target for arrests, detentions, removals, field encounters, or any other operational activities that Ice or its components undertake in the course of enforcing federal immigration law.' The filing is part of an ongoing lawsuit in southern California, where immigrant advocacy groups have sued the Trump administration, accusing it of conducting unconstitutional immigration sweeps in the Los Angeles area. In mid-July a judge issued a temporary restraining order barring immigration agents from detaining individuals based on factors such as race, occupation or speaking Spanish anywhere in the central district of California, which includes Los Angeles. On Friday, an appeals court upheld that order. Politico reported that during a hearing earlier this week in the case, the justice department lawyers were pressed on the reports regarding the alleged arrest quota, and a judge reportedly asked whether it was a 'policy of the administration at this time to deport 3,000 persons per day?'. An attorney for the justice department, Yaakov Roth, reportedly responded 'Not to my knowledge, your honor' per Politico. And in the government's filing on Friday, the attorneys for the government said that the allegations of that the 'government maintains a policy mandating 3,000 arrests per day appears to originate from media reports quoting a White House advisor who described that figure as a 'goal' that the Administration was 'looking to set''. 'That quotation may have been accurate, but no such goal has been set as a matter of policy and no such directive has been issued to or by DHS or ICE' the attorneys added. The discrepancy was first reported by the Los Angeles Daily News and Politico. Neither DHS or Ice immediately responded to a request fro comment from the Guardian. In a statement to Politico, a White House spokesperson did not directly respond to questions about the discrepancy, but said that 'the Trump Administration is committed to carrying out the largest mass deportation operation in history by enforcing federal immigration law and removing the countless violent, criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden let flood into American communities.' A justice department spokesperson told the outlet that there is no disconnect between the DoJ's court filings and the White House's public statements. The spokesperson added that 'the entire Trump administration is united in fully enforcing our nation's immigration laws and the DoJ continues to play an important role in vigorously defending the president's deportation agenda in court.' At various points during his 2024 election campaign, Trump claimed that he would target between 15 and 20 million people who are undocumented in the US for deportation. As of 2022, there were 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
White House boasts about Trump's golf score – days after he was accused of cheating on his own course
The White House on Saturday posted President Donald Trump 's winning golf score from a tournament at his New Jersey golf club, boasting about his win just days after he was accused of cheating on another course. 'Winning on and off the course,' the official White House Instagram page wrote, showing the final score card from the 2025 Men's Senior Club Championship tournament at Trump National in Bedminster. At the top of the card was Trump's gross score of 69 – representing the number of golf strokes the president took on each hole in the tournament. Adjusted with his handicap, the numerical measure of how well a person golfs by either adding or deducting strokes from the gross score, Trump's net score was 67. The score means the president has a handicap of around 2, which is considered very impressive for a non-professional golfer. But a number of commenters on the Instagram post did not appear excited about the president's score, many joking that just last week, reports accused Trump of cheating on his golf course in Scotland. 'Yo we saw the video from Scotland last week, he just throws the ball where he wants it and makes up a score,' one commenter wrote. 'I mean yeah, I'd win too if my caddy was dropping balls on the course for me,' another Instagram user wrote on the post. While on a trip to Scotland in July, a widely-circulated video of the president golfing at his course in Turnberry appeared to insinuate that Trump cheats at his beloved game. The president's caddy appeared to drop Trump's ball closer to the fairway – which some interpreted as a violation of the rules of golf, which generally says to play the ball where it lies. Allegations that Trump cheats at golf date back to before his first term. Some have accused him of using his caddies or Secret Service detail to move his ball. Others claim the president himself has kicked his ball to make it easier to hit. Trump has always denied the allegations. The cheating allegations have been so rampant that one sports writer, Rick Reilly, even wrote an entire book on it, titled Commander in Cheat. In response to the president's recent win, Reilly wrote on X, 'The 4 guys in Trump's group finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Trump has a magic pencil. #CommanderInCheat' However, some professionals who have played alongside the president say he is actually quite a good golfer. Jack Nicklaus, a hall-of-fame golfer, said in 2020 that Trump plays 'pretty well.' Tom Watson, a former professional golfer, said in 2017 that the president was a good hitter and 'can really get the ball out there.' Trump is passionate about golf; he famously played often during his first term in office and continues to play often now. According to a website that tracks the number of golf trips the president takes, he's golfed approximately 49 out of the 196 days he's been in office. Earlier this year, Trump said he won the golf club championship at his golf club in Palm Beach, Florida, as well.
