The Trump administration, and Trump himself, relies on bluster and misdirection so much—and almost never gives concrete facts and figures, that people have to rely on their imagination much of the time (which is what Trump wants.
But here are a few things to consider.
First: We still do not know if Trump was actually out of the loop with the first US move to claw back aid to Ukraine.
When there was an outcry the White House claimed that he did not know anything—
however he has made sure that those responsible for the move (Elbridge Colby and Pete Hegseth) are still in post—and indeed he has gone out of his way to praise Hegseth recently. If he was blindsided by the move, as the White House is trying to claim, he has an odd way of showing it by praising the architects of the plan. Btw, its just as likely that he knew what was going to happen (this is the second time the US has tried to cut all aid to Ukraine) and only pivoted after the fact. As long as Colby and Hegseth are still in post, that remains as plausible a reading as the one that Trump is trying to spin.
Second: There is no evidence that Ukraine will receive all, or even a majority of the aid that the Trump administration clawed back. As stated above, we know that Ukraine is down 20 Patriot missiles from expected allocation—and there has been no evidence that other clawed back anti-air systems are going to be returned—such as Stingers and Sparrows.
Yes, US aid is now being redirected back, but we have no idea what percentage of the original allocation that will be. Unless the Trump administration is clear that “all” of what was allocated to Ukraine is being sent—Ukraine is and will continue to be weaker than it should have been because of this move. When Trump talks about sending “aid” to Ukraine—that needs to be put in perspective. If he wants to aid Ukraine, he can do so easily and make masses of money for the US economy, by selling weapons. Ukraine has said it is willing to pay for $50 billion in US weapons—and Trump so far has refused to sell (though he sells to many others). Its a perplexing decision—to say the least.
Third: Lets see real sanctions on Russia—and this means enforcement of the Graham/Blumenthal bill (if Trump allows it to have a vote). Every day now the USA is helping Russian war industry by refusing to put on new sanctions (there has not been a single new sanction since Biden left office). Trump has talked since January of imposing super-duper sanctions on Russia if Putin does not relent—but they never appear. No more talk—let the bill pass, and then enforce it. Anything else is a continuing delaying tactic while the US helps Russia.
www.kyivpost.com
kyivindependent.com
phillipspobrien.substack.com
