Putin Finally Got Under Trump’s Skin
With his new stance toward the Kremlin, the US president just demonstrated the positive role that frustration, embarrassment and vanity can play in world affairs.
No more BS from the Kremlin.
Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At long, long last, Donald Trump is showing teeth to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Flanked in the Oval Office by a flatterer in the form of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the US president just announced that he’ll be sending lots more weapons to Ukraine, with the twist that the European allies will be paying for them first. It’s a twofer: America Still First, but Ukraine no longer last.
Lest that message was too subtle for Putin, Trump also set another of the deadlines he’s so fond of: If there’s no ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine within 50 days, the US will impose secondary tariffs of 100% on countries (notably including China and India) that still buy Russian oil and gas, thereby funding the Kremlin’s war machine. A bill to that effect is already waiting in Congress for the president’s signal (it envisions punitive tariffs of 500%, but who’s counting). The US government, including members of both parties, finally appears ready again to up the pressure on Moscow to end the killing.