Why Trump has turned his back on Putin
Nearly a decade on, aged by realpolitik and a war on the European continent and conflicts in the Middle East, President Trump is now treading a path that all the second-term presidents before him took when it comes to Russia.
He spent his first term trying to appease Vladimir Putin, courting him as he did Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping, perhaps a mix of respect for other strong male leaders and business-like charm.
Don't forget, Trump's worldview is shaped entirely by his time as a New York real estate mogul. He has his patch of the world, and Putin has his. There should be no reason for frosty relations.
But Trump is not dealing with another property tycoon. Putin is a maximalist former KGB officer who cut his teeth in the murky underworld of the decaying Soviet Union where deception and double-dealing was the currency.
Putin plays chess, whereas Trump plays Monopoly.
Now in his second term, Trump has turned his back on the Russian leader somewhat.
His latest decision to sell Ukraine weapons through NATO and threaten tariffs on Russia if they do not come to an agreement within 50 days is evidence of his frustration - and the first lady's advice.
But 50 days is child's play for a man who deals in decades, if not centuries.
No doubt the Russians are shrugging this threat off.
Putin is playing the long game - he has seen out American presidents, and he will probably see the back of Donald Trump.
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Reuters
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The Independent
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According to Reuters, despite increasing its user base and subscriber numbers, Spotify is having to pay more tax on employee salaries, which is the reason for the price hike. If you've started looking at switching away from the music platform and want to cancel your Spotify Premium membership, we've rounded up the best, cheaper Spotify alternatives to subscribe to right now. Amazon Music Unlimited is the retail giant's premium music streaming service tier. With a subscription, you can listen to more than 100 million songs ad-free, offline and with unlimited skips. You also get access to Amazon Music's HD CD-quality tracks, lossless hi-res tracks and spatial audio. At the start of the year, Amazon hiked the price of its Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service, increasing the individual membership fee to £11.99, the same price as Spotify. 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Individual plan: £10.99 per month Student plan: £5.99 per month (with the first six months free) and a free subscription to Apple TV+ Family plan: £16.99 per month (up to six members) Free trial: A one-month free trial is available for new members, and six months free with the purchase of an eligible device Apple Music is, unsurprisingly, Apple's ad-free music streaming service. It has more than 100 million tracks, over 30,000 curated playlists, live radio and original shows, concerts and exclusives. Its entire catalogue can be listened to in lossless hi-res audio, and spatial audio can be enabled on its tracks. You can download up to 100,000 songs to play offline, and you also get access to Apple Music Classical – the new classical-only service – as well as Apple Music Sing, which is Apple's karaoke mode. In October 2022, Apple increased the price of its Apple Music subscription. 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The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Hezbollah threatens to resume firing missiles at Israel if it intensifies operations in Lebanon
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