Belle argues that Trump’s recent summit with Putin was a complete failure, despite the White House’s attempts to spin it otherwise. Before the meeting, experts set a very low bar: Trump only needed to avoid (1) negotiating over Ukrainian territory and (2) making promises about Ukraine’s NATO membership. He failed on both counts.
According to Belle, Trump effectively backed Russia’s demands by discussing Ukrainian land and agreeing to “Article 5-like protection” for Ukraine—something that isn’t a concession at all. Instead, it means Ukraine can’t join NATO and only gets a watered-down version of NATO’s actual defense guarantee.
Belle likens Putin’s maneuvering to Tom Sawyer tricking another kid into painting a fence—Trump thought he was winning, when in reality Putin was dictating U.S. foreign policy.
The takeaway: the U.S. under Trump is too weak to help Ukraine, leaving Ukraine to rely on Europe or try to endure the next few years on its own.
