"Second, the Washington Post on Thursday quoted a "senior White House official" who said Trump wrote the post as part of a " negotiating tactic" to pressure Russia to wind down the war. The problem here is that if you tell the world that you've said something as part of a negotiating tactic, it's not a very effective negotiating tactic. In this case, it signals the Russians and the Ukrainians not to take the comments seriously-and therefore deprives it of whatever impact it might have had."
"Third, Trump's post tells its readers fairly explicitly not to take it very seriously. At its conclusion, right after "Putin and Russia are in BIG economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act," Trump writes, "In any event, I wish both Countries well. We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them. Good luck to all!""
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social calling Russia a "paper tiger" and praising Ukraine as a "great spirit" that could "fight and WIN" with assistance from the European Union and NATO. Trump has repeatedly shifted between seeming to side with Russia and with Ukraine, making any single comment an unreliable indicator of policy. A senior White House official described the post as a negotiating tactic intended to pressure Russia to wind down the war, which undermines its credibility. Ukrainian officials reacted with surprise and gratitude but did not treat the remarks as a policy change. The post also reiterates limited direct U.S. commitments.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]