Fmr. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper weighs in on Pres. Trump's meeting with Russia's Pres. Putin
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Forbes
42 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Suggests Ukraine Must 'Fight Back' In War With Russia
President Donald Trump used a sports analogy to describe the Russia-Ukraine war in a Truth Social post Thursday—as Trump has retreated from demanding a cease-fire and instead backed Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for an end to the war after their meeting last week. President Donald Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, 2025. (Photo by Hu Yousong/Xinhua via Getty Images) Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images Trump said Ukraine is 'like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense' in a Truth Social post Thursday, alleging President Joe Biden 'would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND,' though it's unclear what he was referring to. Trump said 'there is no chance of winning!' in the sports scenario he described. The president made the comments after meeting with Putin last week and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Monday. Since meeting with Putin, Trump has abandoned his call for a cease-fire and instead has said he wants to see an end to the war, suggesting Ukraine should cede territory to Russia. Trump's rhetoric about the war has become increasingly favorable toward Russia since meeting with Putin—in addition to ditching his cease-fire demands, Trump appears to be slow-walking any sanctions against Russia, despite promising 'severe consequences' if Putin didn't agree to a cease-fire. 'This was a war and Russia is a powerful military a much bigger nation [than Ukraine]...you don't take on a nation that's ten times your size,' Trump told Fox News on Tuesday, suggesting Ukraine is partly to blame for starting the war with Russia. Tangent Trump was caught on a hot mic at Monday's summit with European leaders and Zelenskyy telling French President Emmanuel Macron 'I think he wants to make a deal for me,' referring to Putin. Key Background Trump and Putin offered few details from their meeting last week, though no progress appears to have been made toward ending the war. Trump reiterated his stance that a cease-fire was unnecessary following his meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders Monday in Washington, though he did say he supports some security guarantees for Ukraine, including potentially air support, one of Zelenskyy's key demands for ending the war. Trump also said he hopes to broker a sitdown between Zelenskyy and Putin, and would join a subsequent meeting with the two leaders if necessary. Trump Says He Called Putin To Make 'Arrangements' For Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting (Forbes) Trump Will Meet Zelensky In D.C. Monday After Alaska Meeting With Putin (Forbes) Trump Says 'No Deal' With Putin Following Meeting In Alaska (Forbes)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Opinion - Putin has a Melania Trump problem, and the DC media is too slanted to see it
Of all the people in the White House not to end up on the wrong side of, outside of President Trump, I would put Melania Trump at the top of the list. Very private and not at all liking politics (although far too classy to constantly whine about it, unlike a certain former first lady), Melania Trump has taken a very low profile. But that doesn't mean she is uninvolved. Too bad for Vladimir Putin that he didn't get the memo. Now the Russian president is paying the price. In fact, Trump himself revealed the first lady is not buying Putin's soft-soap routine. USA Today reported that when the president told Melania about Putin's desire for peace, she quickly noted that Russia had just bombed another city, killing more civilians. In response, Russia's ham-handed propaganda machine went on the attack, peddling nasty gossip and calling her a 'danger to Russia.' But the first lady was not about to engage. To all appearances, she had a far more shrewd and effective response in mind. Her letter to Putin was a clear shot at the Russians. In the letter, she essentially says that Putin and the Russians abducted Ukrainian children, and she wants them released. Melania did not call Putin a war criminal, but that conclusion is just a step away. Has Putin figured out his attack dogs blundered? There is evidence to suggest just that. Putin compounded the Russian propaganda mistake with an even more serious blunder, possibly to make up for insulting the first lady. At the Anchorage summit — which was a success for Trump, since he didn't give anything away and forced Putin to confer on a U.S. Air Force Base on American soil — Putin was an obsequious as he could be. But in doing so he went a step too far, agreeing with Trump that he would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been president. For over three years Putin has claimed to the Russian people and the world that he is in a civilizational fight and battling Nazis in Ukraine. And that is a lie. Putin's invasion was opportunistic. He started the war because he thought he would win easily. Of course, it's one thing for a national leader to lie (happens all the time), and another thing to admit it — and make your loyalists look like fools. Even more problematic for Putin are his inner circle and the security state that surrounds him. Tied to Putin, his sheepish sycophancy to Trump is a humiliation for them as well. Instead of a proud, patriotic Russia fighting for its survival, Putin has portrayed himself and Russia as supplicants to Trump. Pretty humiliating, if you ask me. Putin is the main power in Russia, but he is not a dictator in the style of Kim Jong Un. There are other power centers in the country, and his personal control still relies on the support of Russia's security state. Expect Putin to pivot to a more aggressive posture in order to regain some semblance of pride and control — which will undermine his position with Trump. Of course, these complexities are utterly beyond the understanding and interest of a Western media that is obsessed with loathing Trump — and by proxy anyone associated with him, including the first lady. Instead of recognizing the subtle and substantive moves of Melania Trump, the progressive left immediately sought to demean her letter. Salon's pages snarked like an overqualified freshman English teacher. Others claimed it was an AI paste-up job. But even if the letter wasn't everyone's cup of tea or not quite the Gettysburg Address, that's beside the point. The significant revelation is that Putin and his thugs may well have created an implacable foe in the White House who cannot be displaced. Too focused on their mission to throw mud at anything and everything Trump, the establishment media and leftist echo chamber are unwilling (or unable) to amplify Putin's humiliation and fuel discontent within Russia. It all makes their support for Ukraine ring hollow, to say the least. When push comes to shove, there is no principle that supersedes hatred for Trump. Time will tell on this latest burst of diplomacy. It is more likely than not that Putin is in too deep to offer any compromise that could be remotely acceptable. His own propaganda and ultra-nationalist allies may well have put him in a box he cannot get out of. Not that this circumstance should surprise anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Russian history. There is a reason Russian autocrats almost never survive losing a war. This war will most likely not end until Putin is removed from power and a new Russian leadership can start over, blaming the dead man for all of the mistakes — another classic Russian trope. If and when that happens, Melania Trump will deserve some credit. Keith Naughton, a longtime Republican political consultant, is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm, and a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Russia launches major drone and missile attack on Ukraine as peace efforts drag on
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles overnight, in one of its biggest aerial attacks on Ukraine of the year, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday, while a recent diplomatic push to stop the three-year war is trying to gain momentum. The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, the air force said, where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine's Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials. It was Russia's third-largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official Ukrainian figures. Most such Russian attacks have hit civilian areas. The strikes occurred during a renewed U.S.-led effort to reach a peace settlement following Russia's February 2022 invasion of its neighbor. President Trump discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and at the start of this week hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House. Russia has fired nearly 1,000 long-range drones and missiles at Ukraine since the White House talks. Zelensky condemned the overnight attack, saying it was carried out 'as if nothing were changing at all.' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a conference call Thursday with the national security advisers of European countries expected to play a role in future security guarantees for Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said. One of Kyiv's conditions for signing any peace deal is getting Western-backed military assurances to deter Russia from mounting another invasion in the coming years. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that making security arrangements for Ukraine without Moscow's involvement was pointless. It was not immediately clear which countries would be represented on the call with Rubio. The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to outline a discussion that had not been publicly announced. Ukraine and European leaders have accused Putin of stalling in ongoing peace efforts, including Ukraine's proposal of a ceasefire and Zelensky's offer to sit down with the Russian leader. The Kremlin has reacted coolly to those possibilities. Lavrov, Moscow's top diplomat, on Thursday repeated Russia's policy that Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky — but only after key issues have previously been worked out by senior officials in what could be a long negotiating process. Russia's Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted 'enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.' It claimed the attack hit drone factories, storage depots and missile launch sites, as well as areas where Ukrainian troops were gathered. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilian areas of Ukraine. Moscow has shown no signs of pursuing meaningful negotiations to end the war, Zelensky said. He urged the international community to respond with stronger pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and tariffs. Ukraine, meanwhile, has kept up its attacks with domestically produced long-range drones on infrastructure inside Russia that supports Moscow's war effort. Among other targets, it has hit oil refineries, and Russian wholesale gasoline prices have reached record highs in recent days. Almost all the overnight missiles were fired from inside Russia. They reached deep into western Ukraine, near the border with Hungary. Western parts of Ukraine are far from the battlefield's front line in the east and south of the country, where a grinding war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides. In the western city of Lviv, one person was killed and three were injured as the attack damaged 26 residential buildings, a kindergarten and administrative buildings, regional head Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram. The Regional Prosecutor's Office said three Russian cruise missiles with cluster munitions struck the city. A U.S. electronics plant near the Hungarian border was also struck, according to Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. The Flex factory is one of the biggest American investments in Ukraine, Hunder told The Associated Press by phone. At the moment of impact, 600 nightshift workers were on the premises, and six of them were injured, Hunder said. Russian attacks on Ukraine since it launched its invasion have damaged property belonging to more than half of the chamber's approximately 600 members, he added 'The message is clear: Russia is not looking for peace. Russia is attacking American business in Ukraine, humiliating American business,' Hunder said. In comments Wednesday that were embargoed until Thursday, Zelensky said Ukraine will hold intensive meetings to understand what kind of security guarantees its allies are willing to provide. The details are being hammered out by national security advisers and military officials. The plans will become clearer by the end of next week, Zelensky said. He then expects to be ready to hold direct talks with Putin for the first time since the full-scale invasion. The talks could also be conducted in a trilateral format alongside Trump, Zelensky said. A venue for the meeting is being discussed, and Switzerland, Austria and Turkey are possibilities, Zelensky added. Kullab and Novikov write for the Associated Press. Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this story.
