Trump says Putin has gone “CRAZY.” What next for the war in Ukraine?
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What recent events escalated the war in Ukraine?
But first, Russia's war in Ukraine took dramatic military and diplomatic turns over the weekend. Russia struck Kiev and launched its largest combined aerial attack since the start of its full-scale invasion in February of 2022, killing at least 13 people. In response, President Trump came out attacking Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What did Trump say about Putin's actions?
I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all.
How does Trump's stance affect Ukraine?
Later on social media, he said Putin had gone, quote, absolutely crazy. But he also took aim at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was doing his country no favors. Trump's unpredictability with Russia has left analysts, allies and enemies alike searching for a strategy.
What are the implications of Trump's unpredictability with Russia?
He has, on the one hand, denounced the democratically elected Zelensky as a dictator and suggested Ukraine is at least partly responsible for the war. On the other hand, Trump has, with some caveats, allowed military aid to continue flowing into the country and signed a minerals deal that could tie the two countries closer together. Meanwhile, his latest outburst comes just a week after he celebrated a, quote, very good call with Putin. Now relations appear to have gone cold again, with Putin's spokesperson describing this as a moment prone to emotional overload. Given the ambiguity of the administration's diplomacy, it can be difficult to know what to pay attention to and predict where things might go next.
But one place to look might be to those who did this for a living and who worked for the Trump administration in his first term. Here is retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, Trump's former national security advisor, speaking to CNN last week as Trump was preparing to call Putin.
Even though he would make statements at the time when I was national security advisor that I found unseemly about Putin, he took strong action against him. And I think what's going to happen here is that President Trump is going to be faced with the decision to either accommodate Putin or put a hell of a lot more pressure on him. And I think really the path that he'll ultimately take is to put a hell of a lot more pressure on him.
But McMaster's optimism that Trump will eventually pivot to a more conventional U.S. approach and help Ukraine isn't shared by everyone.
But Trump, he wants Ukraine just off the docket. There's a kind of, if they don't make any progress, then they're just going to move beyond it.
That's Fiona Hill, one of the Trump administration's most senior Russia advisers in his first term, speaking recently to Radio Free Europe.
How are college graduates protesting the war in Gaza?
We have a president in the form of Donald Trump, who actually has the same worldview or a very similar worldview to Vladimir Putin. He sees the world in terms of big powers carving everything up. And from the very beginning, he said, Ukraine's not my war. I don't want anything to do with that. I want to get on with, you know, meeting, you know, with Putin and sorting out other issues.
If Trump's actions in recent weeks show any consistency, it's in their deviation from diplomatic expectations and an attraction to bilateral deals. In one sense, a staunch defender of Israel, Trump sidelined the country in recent hostage talks with Hamas. He made a deal with the Houthis in Yemen despite their ongoing conflict with Israel. And in Syria, he warmly embraced the new president, a former member of a group the U.S. regards as terrorists, and unilaterally dropped sanctions, a move the EU followed shortly after. Here's Fiona Hill again.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What recent events escalated the war in Ukraine?
0:34–0:55
2
What did Trump say about Putin's actions?
0:55–1:10
3
How does Trump's stance affect Ukraine?
1:10–1:29
4
What are the implications of Trump's unpredictability with Russia?
1:29–3:15
5
How are college graduates protesting the war in Gaza?
3:15–4:09
6
What controversies arose during graduation speeches?
4:09–5:55
7
How has the university's response affected students?
5:55–15:02
Speakers
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