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Time of India
42 minutes ago
- Time of India
'Nobel-er' Intentions? Donald Trump wants peace in Ukraine – so he can go to heaven
Since the dawn of civilisation, rulers have never been content with mere crowns. They have sought something higher, something eternal: a divine certificate of legitimacy. Pharaohs called themselves gods. Medieval kings bought indulgences. Crusaders marched east convinced that every sword thrust brought them closer to paradise. For power to endure, it had to be sanctified. So why does Donald Trump want to bring peace to Ukraine? Not for NATO. Not for the United Nations . And not, as it turns out, for the Nobel Peace Prize either. President Trump, twice impeached, once convicted, and forever a master of spectacle, wants to end the war in Ukraine because he wants to go to heaven. "I want to try and get to heaven, if possible," he said on live television. "I'm hearing I'm not doing well. I'm really at the bottom of the totem pole." With that, the most powerful man on Earth confessed that even he was afraid of the next world. Trump was not playing 4D chess. He was bargaining with God. It would have been the most surreal admission of any presidency, if this were any other presidency. But history offers precedent. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Kings have long sought to launder their sins through sacred gestures. Monarchs purchased indulgences. Crusader kings launched wars in God's name not merely to reclaim lands, but to secure a place in paradise. Popes offered salvation for spilled blood, and kings repaid their trespasses with cathedrals, pilgrimages, and monasteries. Trump, modern-day American sovereign that he is, has decided to pursue salvation the way he pursues everything else: by cutting a deal. The deal? Peace in Ukraine. The reward? Not Stockholm, but salvation. This is not just a geopolitical manoeuvre. It is a theological campaign. And if you listen closely, you can almost hear Pope Urban II applauding from the clouds. Indulgences, Crusades, and God's VIP List Back in the good old 12th century, when kings wore chainmail and sanitation was optional, there existed a neat transaction between power and salvation: sin now, crusade later. If you were a monarch who'd stolen some land, burned a village, or taxed the peasants into oblivion, you could simply launch a holy war and voila! Eternal reward. The Catholic Church, always a pragmatic institution, formalised this through the system of indulgences. Fight in the Crusades? Full remission of sins. Build a cathedral? God's got a penthouse waiting. Even Pope Urban II's launch of the First Crusade was framed not just as a geopolitical expedition but a cosmic points system: every heretic slain brought you closer to salvation. What Trump is now doing is simply the 21st-century, reality-TV version of this medieval practice. Instead of riding a horse to Jerusalem, he plans to land at Kyiv, negotiate a photo-op ceasefire, and cash in those spiritual coupons. It's diplomacy as indulgence. The holy relic is not a piece of the True Cross—it's a peace deal with Putin and Zelenskyy. The Gospel According to Trump Trump's version of the gospel has always been less Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and more The Art of the Deal, Part II: Divine Negotiations. Back in 2016, he couldn't name a single Bible verse. Later, he tried to sell a special $59.99 "God Bless the USA" Bible, which featured American flags, eagles, and the Declaration of Independence—a sort of fusion cuisine between King James and Kid Rock. But now, as he serves his second presidency and faces 34 felony convictions from his first, the man who used to joke about being more famous than Jesus is feeling the celestial heat. Mortality is the great equaliser, and Trump's recent musings suggest that even he's begun to suspect Mar-a-Lago isn't zoned for eternity. So what does he do? He leans into it. "I know my mother's in heaven," he said at a rally. "I'm not 100 percent sure about my father, but it's close. " He wants to be up there with them. And in Trumpian logic, nothing says "repentance" like ending a war. Divine Right of Campaigning In medieval Europe, kings didn't just rule; they reigned by divine right. God had supposedly handpicked them, which meant that questioning the monarch was akin to heresy. Today, Trump enjoys a similar status among the MAGA faithful. He's not merely a president; he's the anointed. After surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, several Republican leaders declared divine intervention. Speaker Mike Johnson literally tweeted, "GOD protected President Trump yesterday." Rep. Carlos Gimenez said he survived "by the grace of God." Jack Posobiec pointed to the time of the shooting—6:11 PM—and connected it to Ephesians 6:11: "Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. " This, folks, is prophecy as press release. Trump, who once said he never needed forgiveness because he never did anything wrong, is now publicly fretting about heaven. But instead of sackcloth and ashes, he offers ceasefires and summit tables. Global Saviours and the Spiritual PR Machine Trump is hardly the only world leader to invoke God as political leverage. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro cloaked himself in evangelical fervour. Preachers called him a modern-day Samson. He even got baptised in the Jordan River for the cameras. Vladimir Putin , meanwhile, has turned the Russian Orthodox Church into an extension of Kremlin policy. Patriarch Kirill has called the Ukraine war a holy struggle. Russian soldiers were told their sins would be cleansed in battle. Benjamin Netanyahu has often evoked biblical prophecy to justify territorial expansion, once calling Israel's modern mission a continuation of the divine promise to Abraham. All of these men, like Trump, have realised the value of spiritual branding. The difference is, Trump doesn't pretend to be pious. He doesn't quote scripture. He doesn't even pretend to know it. He simply declares, in the bluntest terms possible, that he needs a big-ticket gesture to punch his ticket upstairs. Reactions From Earth and Heaven Naturally, reactions have ranged from the bemused to the beatific. At a White House briefing, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt insisted he was serious: "The President wants to get to heaven—as I hope we all do." A line that only sounds normal when you've given up on normal. Theologians were less amused. Evangelical pastor Rich Bitterman rebuked Trump's remarks, saying "heaven isn't earned through peace deals or popularity contests." Baptist writer Maina Mwaura added, *"This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of Christian doctrine." Even Pope Francis entered the fray—not directly, but indirectly. When asked to weigh in on the candidates in 2024, he didn't mince words. One candidate, he said, was "chasing away migrants," (Trump) the other "killing children." (Harris for her pro-abortion stance) Both, he noted, were "against life." He told US Catholics to vote for the "lesser evil." It wasn't exactly an endorsement of Trump's heavenly prospects. Apocalypse Now? (Or Later) Among hardcore believers, however, the Ukraine angle has taken on prophetic overtones. Far-right bloggers like Robert Clifton Robinson wrote that Trump convening seven European leaders to discuss Ukraine peace sounded like the Seven-Year Treaty from the Book of Daniel. In this interpretation, Trump isn't just a president. He's a prelude to the End Times. Others have started calling him "The Anointed One," not because of his righteousness, but because of his resilience. He survived indictments. He survived impeachment. He survived assassination. To his followers, that's proof of divine favour. To critics, it's just a mix of bulletproof glass and dumb luck. But in Trump's world, dumb luck is just another name for providence. Satire, Sacraments, and the State of the Union It would be easy to dismiss Trump's heaven bid as just another off-the-cuff quip, like "windmills cause cancer" or "inject bleach." But this one stuck. Because it reveals something deeper: the transformation of politics into religion, and religion into brand strategy. Where once kings built churches to scrub their sins, Trump builds narratives. He doesn't kneel before God. He negotiates. And instead of asking "What would Jesus do?" he asks "What would it take to get me in?" That's why his Ukraine peace plan isn't just about geopolitics. It's a celestial PR stunt. A celestial tax write-off. Trump isn't changing who he is. He's just shopping for a better afterlife package. And like all things Trump, it's both hilarious and horrifying. Final Benediction Will Trump get into heaven? That depends on your theology. If you believe salvation is by grace through faith, then no amount of international peacemaking counts. If you believe God rewards deals, then Trump may already be in line. But if history is any guide, men with power have always tried to sneak past the pearly gates by offering something big: a war won, a temple built, a peace forged. Trump just updated the formula: Build nothing. Win no war. But make the deal look good on cable news. Heaven help us all.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
The irony if a Putin-Zelenskyy meet happens in Budapest
The US is considering hosting Ukraine-Russia peace talks in Budapest, a city tied to the broken 1994 security pact, with Trump set to join if the summit happens The White House is considering a potential trilateral summit in Budapest involving the presidents of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine as part of ongoing efforts to negotiate an end to the years-long conflict, according to a Politico report, citing Trump administration official and a source familiar with the matter. The choice of Hungary's capital carries a note of historical irony for Ukraine, as it recalls the 1994 Budapest Memorandum — an agreement in which the US, UK, and Russia pledged to uphold Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for its nuclear disarmament, a promise shattered by Russia's 2014 invasion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Russian President Vladimir Putin's 2014 assault on Ukraine proved the agreement meaningless when none of the signatories provided military forces to counter the attacks. The US Secret Service is making preparations for the meeting in Hungary, a Central European country led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump since his first term in office. When asked about Budapest as the venue for the meeting during Tuesday's White House media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm specifics about the potential summit location. 'I'm not going to confirm or deny locations,' she said. Although the Secret Service routinely evaluates multiple venues and plans may still shift, Budapest is currently emerging as the leading option for the White House, according to the Politico report, citing two individuals granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a preference for Moscow, while French President Emmanuel Macron has lobbied for Geneva. In an effort to secure the talks, Switzerland's foreign minister even offered Putin 'immunity' from an outstanding war crimes warrant if his country, renowned for its neutrality, were selected as host. Still, the summit remains far from certain. After a meeting between European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that a follow-up conversation between Zelenskyy and Putin could take place within weeks. Shortly after, Trump announced on social media that he would join the two leaders for a trilateral summit, touted as the final step in peace talks that gained traction after his meeting with Putin in Alaska last week. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, Russian officials now appear to be dragging their feet on any direct engagement between Zelenskyy and Putin, reported Politico. In an interview on state-controlled television on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow wouldn't rule out talks with Ukraine, but emphasised a cautious, incremental approach: 'step by step, gradually, starting from the expert level and then going through all the necessary stages.' Leavitt reiterated on Tuesday that Putin has agreed to meet with Zelenskyy, and confirmed that the US is coordinating with both Russia and Ukraine to arrange the bilateral meeting. 'The president has spoken to both leaders about this and both leaders have expressed a willingness to sit down with each other,' Leavitt was quoted as saying. Leavitt said the bilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy could be followed by a trilateral one including Trump. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine will host top military officials from Germany, the UK, France, Finland, and Italy in Washington late Wednesday to begin talks on potential security guarantees and how to implement them, reported Politico, citing a defence official and a person familiar with the evolving plans. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Also on Wednesday, all 32 Nato defence chiefs will hold a virtual meeting led by Nato's top general, Italian Adm. Giuseppe Dragone. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the new head of US European Command and Nato's Supreme Allied Commander, is expected to join the call. The urgent meetings highlight the scale of coordination required as European allies consider sending a peacekeeping force to Ukraine and ramping up purchases of US-made weapons for Kyiv. With inputs from agencies
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
U.S. Prepared to Use Air Power to Support Planned European Force in Ukraine
President Trump signaled on Tuesday that the U.S. is prepared to use air power to support a European security force in Ukraine but ruled out deploying American ground troops. Planning of the multination force to be sent to Ukraine if a peace settlement is reached accelerated Tuesday, a day after Trump discussed the idea at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders. After Trump's summit with his Russian counterpart in Alaska, the president tasked Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to develop options for NATO-like security guarantees for that force, according to a Western official. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine Caine was set to meet in person on Tuesday with military chiefs from nations that participated in the White House meeting on Ukraine a day earlier, including Britain, France, Germany and Finland, two Western officials said. The purpose of the meeting, which will also include Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, who is both NATO's top military commander and the head of U.S. forces in Europe, is to refine military options for the political leaders, one of the officials said. Grynkewich is also slated to brief a larger group of NATO defense chiefs over videoconference on the war in Ukraine on Wednesday, according to a senior NATO military officer. Grynkewich will participate from Washington, the person said. But the planned force faces a number of major diplomatic challenges. While Trump has said that he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept the presence of Western troops in Ukraine, Russia has objected to the idea of sending troops to Ukraine from members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 'We reiterate our repeatedly expressed position that we deny any scenarios that envisage the deployment of a military contingent to Ukraine with the participation of NATO states,' Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharkova said Tuesday. Such as a step, she said, could lead to an 'uncontrollable escalation of the conflict with unpredictable consequences.' Trump didn't specify the role the U.S. military might have in providing air support to a European ground force—whether it would include warplanes, air-defense systems or surveillance drones, for instance. 'When it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground,' Trump said in a Fox Television interview, referring to the Europeans. 'We're willing to help them with things, especially probably, if you talk about by air, because there is nobody has the kind of stuff we have, really they don't have.' The Pentagon could deploy aircraft outside Ukraine to protect European troops, including jet fighters to aid European forces in the country if they are attacked or surveillance drones to monitor any peace agreement. The U.S. could also fly European troops and equipment on its cargo planes, provide ground-based air-defense systems to the European and contribute military intelligence. European governments, led by the U.K. and France, have lobbied Washington for months to back what they described as a 'reassurance force' that would be deployed to Ukraine after a cease-fire. European nations are wary of sending their forces to Ukraine without what the British have called a U.S. 'backstop,' an assurance that U.S. forces could intervene if the troops are attacked. In a sign that NATO members are concerned about possible military moves by Moscow, the alliance said Tuesday that its military forces, including its air-defense systems, had been put on alert when Russian aircraft launched missile attacks on Ukraine. A Patriot air-defense system in south-east kick up dry grass as they participate in the U.S.-led military exercise. In a statement, the alliance said the move was made out of concern that the Russian missiles might enter the airspace over Poland, which includes a logistics hub that is used to send equipment to Ukraine. As it turned out, no Russian violations of Polish airspace occurred. Following the White House meeting with top European leaders on Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio will start working with the Europeans on plans for a security guarantee for Ukraine. These guarantees could include a potential promise to back up Ukraine modeled on NATO's Article 5, which stipulates that an attack on one alliance member should be considered an attack on all, officials said. Without a credible U.S. security guarantee, 'it is hard to see how you can have an effective deterrence of Russia or reassurance of Ukraine,' says James Black, a deputy director at Rand Europe, a think tank. European militaries lack logistics, intelligence gathering, cybersecurity, and large scale precision missiles, needed to sustain a conflict with Russia, he says. Defining the U.S. role is aimed at giving countries such as Germany and Italy more confidence about participating in any Ukraine force. The plan for a reassurance force was hatched by the British and French shortly before Trump won his re-election. It took on greater urgency after Zelensky's Oval Office clash with Trump earlier this year. Initially, the Europeans planned to put up to 30,000 troops on the ground. But Trump showed little interest in U.S. involvement, and several European nations, including Germany and Italy, balked at sending troops. The U.K. and France then began discussing a more modest force that would be composed of a few thousand troops and based far from the front line. The troops would support the Ukrainian military and act as a deterrence against potential Russian aggression. Soldiers take part in urban combat exercises during a joint military manoeuvre between the French and British armies in northeastern France in April. European forces wouldn't likely be near whatever de facto border or legal frontier emerges between Russian and Ukrainian forces if a peace agreement is hammered out. They could be placed at strategically important locations, such as airports and military centers, that could come under Russian attack. French officials have said Paris could deploy between 3,000 and 5,000 troops in Ukraine initially. British and French army officers went to Ukraine in April to scope out options. Britain is likely to focus on providing air support, given its army has been slimmed down dramatically in the last few decades. 'One of the trickiest tasks in the work undertaken by our military planners is that it is not clear in what circumstances any forces may be required to be deployed, and it is not clear that the details of the negotiated peace deal we all want to see will be in place,' U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said in April in a statement to Parliament. Write to Lara Seligman at Michael R. Gordon at and Max Colchester at U.S. Prepared to Use Air Power to Support Planned European Force in Ukraine U.S. Prepared to Use Air Power to Support Planned European Force in Ukraine U.S. Prepared to Use Air Power to Support Planned European Force in Ukraine
