Since his first day in office, President Donald Trump has mismanaged negotiations over an end to the war in Ukraine. More than 100 days later, innocent Ukrainians are still dying while the president gets played by Russian President Vladimir Putin – illustrated starkly by the barrages of drones and missiles continually aimed at Ukrainian cities as Trump posts online.
It’s good to hear Trump finally express some frustration toward Putin and admit that his negotiating tactics aren’t working, that, as he says, Putin is ‘just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently.’ The reasons for this aren’t complicated. Instead of increasing his leverage over Russa, Trump offered concession after concession before talks even began.
Getting U.S. policy right in Ukraine matters. If we allow Russia to end these negotiations as the victor, our NATO allies in Poland and the Baltics could be next. China’s President Xi Jinping will draw clear lessons from our capitulation as China plots a takeover of Taiwan. And would-be aggressors the world over will see that the international order that — while imperfect — has created stability and prosperity in much of the world has ended.
Sadly, Trump is unlikely to listen to me, to our allies, or even to reasonable voices within his own White House and administration. My hope, though, is that he will be guided by the concepts from his own playbook — ‘The Art of the Deal’ — to secure a just peace and end this war.
Fight back
Donald Trump says never let yourself be pushed around — but that’s exactly what Putin is doing to him. When Trump proposed an unconditional ceasefire, Putin delayed and then shot a missile at a playground full of children. When Trump threatened additional sanctions if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire, Putin blew past Trump’s demands without consequence.
Instead of continuing to get pushed around, the president should heed his own words: ‘You do your thing, you hold your ground, you stand up tall, and whatever happens, happens.’ Backing down now by threatening to walk away from talks is incentivizing Putin. This weakness invites Russian and Chinese aggression because an easy deal today undermines security for Europe, Taiwan and the United States tomorrow.
Trump should increase sanctions — not just threaten them — and provide continued security assistance and intelligence sharing to Ukraine to sustain its war efforts against Russia. We should also reconsider Ukraine’s interest in NATO membership to apply all points of pressure on Putin.
Use your leverage
Russia’s economy is in real trouble with hundreds of thousands of Russians having been killed or wounded on the front lines. Putin needs this war to end. I couldn’t agree more with Trump when he wrote: ‘The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.’
