Trump Always in Putin’s Pocket When It Matters
- john raymond
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Trump has never sanctioned Russia in meaningful ways, never defended Ukraine without a caveat, never empowered NATO without undermining it in the same breath.
On the surface, Trump performs like a man unafraid to speak in absolutes. But when it comes to Russia, his record is conspicuously conditional. What looks like tough talk always dissolves into delay, dilution, or diversion. His words posture independence; his actions betray alignment.
In his first term, he signed off on sanctions only under congressional pressure—and then immediately sought to weaken their enforcement. He praised Russia’s strength while undermining the very alliances designed to contain it. He withheld military aid to Ukraine until it became politically impossible, and even then, he treated that aid not as support for a sovereign ally but as leverage for personal gain.
Now, in his second term, the patterns have returned—only this time without the constraints of doubt or unfamiliarity. He floats new “peace plans” that ask Ukraine to concede territory. He suggests NATO members aren't worth defending unless they meet arbitrary spending targets. He minimizes Russia’s war crimes while painting the U.S. intelligence community as untrustworthy. And every time he does it, the media frames it as policy confusion, rather than strategic subversion.
Trump’s record is not marked by occasional softness toward Moscow—it is defined by consistent refusal to hold Russia accountable in any way that matters. His criticisms of Putin, when they come, are theatrical—vague, belated, and ultimately inconsequential. His support for Ukraine, when offered, is undermined by rhetorical sabotage. His nods to NATO come paired with threats to dismantle it.
This isn’t a failure of principle. It is loyalty in action. He may claim to be America First, but his real consistency is America Undermined—every time the geopolitical interests of the U.S. run counter to the aims of the Kremlin, Trump either sits it out or subtly sides with the latter.
It is no accident. It is not confusion. It is coherence—of purpose, of pattern, of allegiance.
On every global question that threatens Russian power, Trump has never answered like a president. He answers like a partner.
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