Politics & Government
“I Don’t Know What the Hell Happened to Putin?” Trump Feels Betrayal
Trump experiences betrayal and learns how it feels
Some folks generously refer to President’s relationship with Vladimir Putin as naïve. Others say Putin is playing Trump/using him. Still others say it is a one-sided friendship and Trump delusionally believes Putin is “his friend.”
Now, hold up, before we jump to conclusions, a review of the last at the 15-months might give us some clues leading up to the current Russian Ukrainian stalemate and the ongoing slaughter of innocent people to determine if those characterizations of Trump’s relationship with Putin are fair.
Let’s start with his campaign…
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January of 2024- Election Day, 2024:
At nearly every opportunity on the campaign trail, candidate Trump indicated he would end the Russia’s illegal war on the first day of his presidency. Similarly, he shared multiple times that he and Putin had an outstanding relationship based on mutual respect. According to The Atlantic, Trump claimed it would be a “very easy negotiation,” and the war would be “settled very fast.”
Okay, gosh, that sounds good, but now he is president. Let’s look at how it has been going.
Russian Ukrainian Negotiations Timeline … February – May 26, 2025
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(Excerpts from CNN.com, 5/19/25)
FEBRUARY 28, 2025
“A remarkable shouting match breaks out in the Oval Office as Trump belittles Zelensky, leading to an almost real-time breakdown in relations between Washington and Kyiv. Trump and Vice President JD Vance castigate Zelensky for not demonstrating enough gratitude for American support.
MARCH 11, 2025
Zelensky says that Ukraine accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States after critical peace talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia. The United States says in a joint statement with Ukraine following the meeting in Jeddah that it would “immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.” Trump vows to speak with Putin about the plan.
APRIL 17
A US-authored outline of a peace plan receives an “encouraging reception” at peace talks between US, European and Ukrainian officials in Paris, according to a State Department readout.
APRIL 18
Rubio warns that if there were no signs of progress in the Ukraine-Russia peace talks within “days,” then the US could withdraw from negotiations.
APRIL 23
Trump puts the onus on Zelensky to accept the deal, saying the Ukrainian leader has “no cards to play” and is prolonging the war through “inflammatory statements” as the US works on negotiations to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Overnight, Moscow launches the deadliest strike on Kyiv since the summer of 2024.
APRIL 26
Zelensky: “We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”Shortly after, Trump on Truth Social questions if Putin “doesn’t want to stop the war" and is “tapping him along” in peace talks.
MAY 1
Rubio tells Fox News that “we’ve gotten closer” to reaching a negotiation on peace but Ukraine and Russia’s “positions are still a little far apart.”
MAY 15(Even though the White House suggested meetings would continue,) Talks do not ultimately take place in Turkey on Thursday between Zelensky and Putin, but their delegations make plans to meet on Friday, despite criticism from Zelensky that the Russian delegation lacks “decision-makers.” Rubio says he doesn’t expect significant progress until Trump and Putin meet.MAY 18
Vance and Rubio meet with Zelensky in Italy at the residence of the US ambassador to Italy.
“During our talks we discussed negotiations in Istanbul to where the Russians sent a low-level delegation of non-decision-makers. I reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy and underscored the importance of a full and unconditional ceasefire as soon as possible. We have also touched upon the need for sanctions against Russia, bilateral trade, defense cooperation, battlefield situation and upcoming prisoners exchange. Pressure is needed against Russia until they are eager to stop the war.” Zelensky says on X.
MAY 19
Trump holds the much-anticipated call with Putin for two hours, and the US president says after that “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.” He adds that the conditions will be “negotiated between the two parties.”Putin says the call with Trump was “frank and substantive,” according to Russian state media TASS.”
----
And then? Right after the above call, a new series of deadly, cruel assaults on Ukrainians were initiated.
Huh, it feels like every time the Trump administration makes any headway, Putin betrays them or lies to them. Who knew that would happen?
Trump shared “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump wrote Sunday night on Truth Social.
Holy Cow – Did Putin lie to Trump?
Then, according to The Hill, immediately after Trump’s reaction on May 26th the Kremlin responded Monday to President Trump’s criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing “emotional overload” at this “very important moment,” thereby humiliating and enraging Trump.
So, wait, let me get this straight…
We are 127 days into Trump’s administration and no sign of a real ceasefire or reducing the devastating and illegal hostilities by Russia. Putin is lying, delaying and avoiding negotiations while thousands of Ukrainians continue to die at the hands of Russian soldiers. And, we are far past the ending the war on the first day of the administration, or even in the first 4 months, with no end in sight.
So, it turns out negotiating a war’s end takes more than a day, a week or a few months. Who knew?
Also, it turns out nearly every time Putin agreed to negotiations or reducing attacks, he simply continued his butchering. Oh, my word, do you mean to say that Vladimir Putin lied to President Trump in front of the world and Trump was surprised by this?
The real question is why is Trump is not seeking sanctions or using other economic tools against Russia to encourage them to understand they must stop the war? Equally important, why is Trump not working closely with the EU and creating solidarity internationally on this topic?
Could it be that Russia helped Trump win two elections? Could it be there are financial incentives involved for the Trump family and others? Did Trump interpret Putin’s kindly words over the last several years as friendship and it absolutely was not? Could it be that Trump has been “played” over and over again?
So, who’s gonna tell him? Putin lies and betrays.
Here is what we know for sure, whether the war is dragging on because of incompetence, a lack of critical thinking, naïveté or for financial reasons, I think we can all agree, we were sold a bill of goods during the Trump campaign. Trump and his team are not doing what they claimed they could.
The real issue is why should we ever believe anything Trump says?
· He said he would end the Russian Ukrainian war and the Israeli/Hamas war during the first week of his presidency and he has not.
· He said he would lower prices on goods and many products have increased.
· He said he would not cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security and his team just passed a 1,000-page budget that cuts all of those programs.
· He said he would not increase the deficit and yet that same bill increases it significantly, by trillions.
· He said he would only deport undocumented criminals but continues to deport documented citizens to gulags and concentration camps.
· He said he would follow the law, yet he is breaking the law, ignoring due process and is in contempt of court in multiple cases.
· But wait, in fairness, he did keep one promise and honestly, he has been very competent at this in the past:
LOWERING TAXES FOR BILLIONAIRES AND MAKING THE RICH RICHER.
In the end, Trump, now, has experienced what Americans have over the last four months: full betrayal. Betrayal is motivating and we have to keep fighting back.
Remember folks, we have lots of ways to fight back. Boycotts work, protesting and calls are working. The court actions are working. Keep supporting the state Attorneys General and those institutions currently suing the Trump administration. Send letters to the Supreme Court and remind them of their duty to the constitution, not the Republican party or the president:
Contact the Public Information Office by U.S. Mail:
Public Information Officer
Supreme Court of the United States1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543
By Email: https://www.supremecourt.gov/contact/contact_pio.aspx
