As Trump himself has observed, Putin’s intransigence stems in part from the fact that Russia currently has the upper hand on the battlefield — and the autocrat seems to believe he can grind Ukraine down until it’s forced to accept his terms. The president’s recent decisions to send an additional THAAD missile defense battery to Israel and surge Aegis destroyers to the Eastern Mediterranean undoubtedly risked US military readiness in other theaters — but Trump made the leap, showing strength to the Iranian mullahs and support for our Israeli ally. Trump will have to own the strategic and political disaster the Pentagon is courting in Ukraine — much as President Joe Biden had to own the fallout from the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Author: Mark Montgomery, John Hardie
Published at: 2025-07-02 22:35:41
Still want to read the full version? Full article
