Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Trump's Patience Runs Out
NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Reflection: I hope you had a meaningful Memorial Day weekend — I have never liked saying 'happy' Memorial Day weekend.
More than 160 years since the Civil War, it's hard to imagine anyone could add meaning or context to the magnificent words of Sullivan Ballou, a major in the Rhode Island volunteers whose letter to his wife remains for all time:
'Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and how foolish I have often times been! . . . But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights . . . always, always; and, if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.'
Even if you know and love the letter and its poetic prose, take a minute and read Elliot Ackerman's essay about Ballou's letter.
Ackerman writes, 'Sullivan Ballou and I are separated by centuries. He lived in a country I scarcely recognize. But what I understand is the letter he wrote, one that seeks to reach across time, across the barrier between life and death, one that would allow him to continue living in the memories of those he left behind. It is a reminder that Memorial Day is not only for those who died, but also those who go on living without them. Ballou's letter isn't about death; it's about life: the 'soft breeze' on Sarah's cheek; 'the cool air' on her temple.'
DEI on the farm: NewsNation Senior National Correspondent Brian Entin is out with some incredible reporting about a Biden-era DEI program that encouraged minority farmers not to repay loans — YIKES! Watch NewsNation all night for more reporting on the story.
Zoom out: Years of DEI initiatives have turned off a generation of male voters, white and minority alike. Now, Democrats want to spend $20 million to study the 'syntax' of how men talk, according to New York Times reporting.
Republicans could only be so lucky.
Subtle switch: The New York Times came out with a piece over the weekend: 'Six Months Later, Democrats Are Still Searching for the Path Forward.'
Trump appeared visibly angry over the weekend when complaining about Putin and Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine — he now joins Bush, Obama and Biden, who all thought they could deal honestly with Putin and got rolled.
Click here to see Trump's threat.
Told you: We predicted this — and so did Bill O'Reilly in our '100 Days of Trump' special.
Trump and Putin talked during the transition, and Putin promised Trump a deal.
Shockingly, Putin keeps trying to escalate while refusing to engage in good-faith negotiations.
Trump is embarrassed he can't deliver on his promise to end the war (never mind that he said he would do it on or before Day 1 in office).
Watch: Putin keeps sending heavier and heavier attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Reporting: NewsNation's Kellie Meyer says the White House could announce new sanctions against Russia 'soon.'
Look back: Biden's three-year policy of giving Ukraine enough to fight but not enough to win didn't work — never mind his unwillingness to crush Russia economically.
Look forward: MAGA and Team Trump successfully turned Republicans' opinion toward favorability or at least toleration of Putin.
Watch tonight: We'll talk to Erick Erickson tonight on whether Trump can turn them back.
Bonus: Trump had no public events today. He stood up to Putin over the weekend, the stock market continues to climb, and he's allowing Democrats in disarray stories to dominate coverage — is he getting more disciplined?
This weekend, Democrats (and their friends in the media) started to understand the problem of them covering for Biden.
Everything they accused and now accuse Trump of doing, they were doing themselves.
Watch Alex Thompson discussing a Biden aide talking about White House staffers running the country. In Thompson's words, aides were willing to do 'undemocratic things.'
If that isn't a threat to democracy, what is?
And yet time and time again, Democrats and the media looked the other way because they didn't want to help Trump.
The problem for Democrats isn't that they hid Biden's health or, in the case of the media, that they covered for Biden. The problem is that any criticism of Trump now seems hollow.
Fair question: They must answer why they were so unconcerned when Biden actually did what they are now accusing Trump of.
Tweet of the weekend: From Glenn Greenwald: 'Jake Tapper — at the age of 56 and after 30 years in what one may loosely call 'journalism' — pretends to have just woken up and realized what is, in fact, the first axiom of Journalism 101: politicians and governments lie and journalists shouldn't blindly believe them (😲).'
Quote of the weekend: Scott Pelley of CBS News gave a commencement speech at Wake Forest University this weekend where he said,
'In this moment, this morning, our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack … And insidious fear is reaching through our schools. Our businesses, our homes and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak in America!'
OK, Pelley …
You mean like all the people deplatformed and canceled for questioning COVID-19 vaccines?
Or those who were called conspiracy nuts for questioning Biden's health?
Or like all the years that '60 Minutes' focused on hatred of Trump?
You get the idea.
What would President Newsom Do?
You should ask yourself after that watching a video of mass 'unrest,' aka riots, in Los Angeles.
What would President Pritzker Do?
Ask yourself that after watching Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declare celebration for 'Africa Day.'
For those keeping count, 24 people were shot and three died in his city over the weekend.
Democrats nationally will own the problems of their biggest cities, but their 'leadership' is far too scared to force change.
Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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