Days before Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s most recent meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Trump seemed open to the idea of providing long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Then, the day before the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned Trump, and everything changed.
Instead of standing up for Ukraine, a U.S. ally, during the Trump-Zelenskyy White House meeting, Trump repeated Putin’s talking points to end the war: Zelenskyy would have to surrender not only the land Putin had conquered during his illegal invasion, but also the entire Donbas region of Ukraine. Trump seemed willing not only to surrender land Putin had gained during the war, but also to give him more.
The Tomahawk missiles could have been a game-changer for Ukraine and forced Russia to a more reasonable peace agreement. Already, Ukraine has been successful in attacking Russia’s energy sector with drones, disabling up to 30% of its oil refinery capability, Russia’s primary source of income these days.
The phone call between Trump and Putin lasted over two hours, according to White House sources, and, according to Luke Broadwater, White House correspondent for The New York Times, “appeared to talk the American president out of the idea” of additional military aid to Ukraine. While Trump “has felt misled by the Russian president” in the past, “his frustration with Mr. Putin often dissipates quickly” and “it was the latest example of Mr. Trump altering his position after a personal interaction with Mr. Putin.”
Clearly, Putin has Trump’s number, and I’m not talking about his phone number. What Putin has over Trump is the question, but it must be a doozy. I have frequently stated that if Trump were as strong against Russia as he is with Chicago or Venezuela, the war in Ukraine would be over. Instead, for whatever reason, Trump appears weak and afraid of Putin. Indeed, the emperor has no clothes.
To make the point of how far Trump was willing to go in repeating Putin’s talking points to Zelenskyy, observers in the meeting told reporters that Trump even stated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “special operation, not even a war,” a frequent talking point made by Putin to the people of Russia.
Trump admitted to reporters after his Aug. 15 meeting with Putin in Alaska that “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.” He said that he was “very angry” at Putin and called his continued attacks on Ukraine “absolutely crazy.”
These were hopeful statements by Trump, and observers wondered if Trump would finally recognize Putin for what he was. But those hopes were soon shattered. It only took one phone call, and Putin convinced the President of the United States to repeat Russia’s talking points about Ukraine having to surrender or be “destroyed.”
Trump also seemed enthusiastic about a possible second summit with Putin in Budapest, Hungary. However, since Trump’s announcement of the Budapest meeting, the idea was squashed by Russian officials because they found the terms for negotiating an end to the war unacceptable. Once again, Putin pulled the football away from Charlie Brown.
Trump should not be meeting with Putin; he should be seeking his arrest as an indicted war criminal, wanted by the International Criminal Court “for the unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.” According to a report by Yale School of Public Health, Putin kidnapped about 35,000 Ukrainian children to Russia.
If Trump had any respect for international law or concern about those Ukrainian children, he would never agree to meet with Putin, certainly not on American soil, as he did in Alaska in August. Trump ignores international laws regarding Putin, as well as his military attacks on boats in international waters offshore from Venezuela.
Trump stated that he was willing to meet with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, where he would meet two dictators for the price of one trip. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is another Trump-like figure who destroyed a strong democratic government in Hungary, a member of the European Union, and made himself king. Many observers have noted and documented the admiration MAGA Republicans have for Orban and see his takeover of Hungary as their model for Trump in America. Like Trump, Orban is a big Putin fan.
This would have been a big opportunity for Trump. He could have had his picture taken with two of his favorite international dictators. I’m sure the picture of the three of them would then hang prominently in the new $300 million White House ballroom — gold frame, of course.
Trump thinks that if he ends the war in Ukraine, no matter the conditions, he will win the Nobel Peace Prize. But no one will give him a prize for surrendering to Putin. Like his efforts in Gaza, Trump is impatient and has no time for details. This is why his “peace” in the Middle East is not so peaceful, and his efforts to push Ukraine to surrender to Putin will not work.
Unlike Trump, Zelenskyy is patient, brave and smart. He has Europe behind him, too. Edward Luce, reporter for the Financial Times, wrote that “it looks likely that Europe will find a way to lend Ukraine most of Russia’s frozen $200 billion central bank reserves, which would be enough to tide Ukraine through the next couple of years.” By then, Trump will have just one more year in office before a Democratic president comes to the rescue of democracy in Europe.
According to The Economist, Putin has lost about 100,000 troops in 2025 alone compared with about 20,000 Ukrainian troops. Yes, Russia has four times the population, but Putin may still “be forced to shift to conscription for the frontline, which would jeopardize support for his regime,” and “Putin has almost nothing to show for all that blood,” writes Luce.
According to Luce, Putin has one card: The Trump card. He plays it well, and the president of the United States seems to be a willing puppet.
Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair in Special Education Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. His column appears on Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.
