Michael Weiss

So let's back up a little bit and sort of provide some context.

So Trump had this ignominious summit with Putin in Alaska, which did not go well.

There were some sort of

rhetorical framework for future discussions meetings about meetings to take place in the future but it was very clear just looking at the optics of that thing nothing was substantively agreed to why because putin left early like there was no lunch no salmon or moldy tuna fish served whatever it was halibut in alaska i think would have been halibut in alaska and you know some of the reporting i've done since suggests that even in route to anchorage on air force one

Trump was shown by the director of the CIA, Ratcliffe, that look here.

I mean, this is the intelligence we have on the war.

The Russians are kind of desperate.

They're not doing well.

They're losing X number of soldiers, you know, let's say a thousand soldiers per square mile of territory that they take.

And this kind of impressed Trump.

Why?

Not because he's pro-Ukraine.

He hates Ukraine and he has a visceral dislike for Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

tied to his first term when Zelensky found himself tangled up in his impeachment saga, through no fault of his own, by the way.

And he certainly wants to have a good relationship with Putin.

He likes Putin.

He can't understand why Putin doesn't like him back in the way that he just thinks is natural.

But one thing I think that kind of gets lost in sort of this sort of black and white portrayal of the situation is Donald Trump also likes power.

And he likes to see

traditional or historical adversaries of the United States beaten and battered, right?