CNN analyzed why Trump suddenly changed his mind about Putin.
Yesterday's statement by Donald Trump criticizing dictator Putin shows that the head of the White House seems to be running out of patience.
Why Trump has dramatically changed his mind about Putin, and why it happened now, is discussed in an analytical article by Aaron Blake on CNN.
The author recalled that five months ago, President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, the man who invaded Ukraine, wanted peace in Ukraine.
“I think he wants peace. I mean, I know him very well. Yes, I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn't want it… I trust him on that,” the newly elected American president said at the time.
But now Trump is singing a different tune. After days of complaining about his latest phone call with Putin, Trump went even further at a Cabinet meeting, suggesting that the man he had vouched for and strangely failed to criticize for years might be an unreliable interlocutor.
Trump really took Ukraine's side
The analyst ponders whether Trump has really turned away from Putin and firmly sided with Ukraine. After all, the politician has repeatedly signaled over the past 10 years that he wants to appear unpredictable on the world stage.
Blake does not rule out that Trump's recent public comments are an attempt to put pressure on Putin, rather than a signal of a decisive change in his administration's policy. Notably, the American president on Tuesday refused to support a package of new sanctions against Russia.
“But harshly criticizing Putin is also a card Trump has been extremely reluctant to play. About the only other time he has gone that far was shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump briefly called Russia's invasion horrific,” the article says.
How quickly can he change his mind?
According to the author, the main question is whether today's change of Trump will be as fleeting as it was then, in 2022.
The publication suggests that the US president is probably beginning to realize that his goals in Ukraine are incompatible with Putin's goals.
For Trump, the main thing is always to achieve a “victory” – in this case, the peace agreement he promised but failed to achieve on the first day of his presidency.
“He didn't seem to care much about what the peace deal actually looked like, and he made huge concessions on the Ukrainian side. But Putin gave little indication that he was really interested in making a deal that would involve anything other than getting all of Ukraine,” Bruce said.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday weren’t just tough on Putin; they reflected a deeper frustration at being set up by his dictator. Perhaps Trump genuinely believed in his own deal-making skills, and he feels Putin has made a fool of him.
Trump likely came to this conclusion, albeit belatedly, after the events of last week. Shortly after his call with Putin, Russia launched its largest drone attack in history on Ukraine.
“And no one should underestimate the role of pride and domestic politics in all this. Trump has given Putin more of a benefit of the doubt than almost any other Western leader, as his February comments attest. As in other areas abroad, he has resolutely refused to make moral judgments… But choosing sides in the war in Ukraine is not just a moral question; it is also a question of realpolitik. And perhaps that latter calculus, far more important to Trump, is changing. Only time will tell,” the article concluded.
Let us recall that today Donald Trump surprised everyone with a harsh statement about Putin and declared that the Russian dictator is showering everyone with a bunch of lies.
Trump also stated that resumed military aid to Ukraine.
