The Missiles Fall. The Bromance Endures.
As Russian drones and missiles tore into Kyiv, Donald Trump found time not for outrage—but for understanding Vladimir Putin.
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“Trump’s feelings, it seems, matter more than the death and destruction Putin continues to rain down on Ukrainian civilians.”
On the day before Donald Trump spoke to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian President Vladimir Putin slapped him in the face. He did it with a ten-hour attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region, launching more than 500 drones and 40 missiles. Two civilians were killed. Thirty-six were injured. Dozens of buildings were damaged.
How did Trump react? He indulged Putin with a two-hour phone call before welcoming Zelensky to his Mar-a-Lago home—and country club—in Palm Beach. What did Trump and Putin discuss? According to Moscow, Putin raised an unproven claim that Ukraine had launched a drone attack on one of his country retreat homes. Putin called it a “terrorist” act. Trump, the Kremlin reported, “was shocked by this news, literally outraged.”
No one has reported that Trump expressed any outrage over Russia’s refusal to engage in meaningful peace talks. Instead, Trump said he understood why Putin was hesitant to agree to a cease-fire. After all, Trump explained, Putin might have to stop fighting and then restart it, which would be a bother. “He doesn’t want to be in that position,” Trump said after the call. “I understand that position.”
Trump has been very understanding of Putin for a very long time.
In 2007, Trump wrote Putin a letter congratulating him on being named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. “I’m a big fan of yours,” he wrote. In 2013, when Trump’s Miss Universe pageant was held in Moscow, he asked on social media whether Putin would “become my new best friend.” That was followed by admiring comments about how Moscow was “outsmarting” the Obama administration, praise for Putin’s restoration of Russian power, and repeated claims that the two of them would “get along very well.”
They did get along—very well—during the scandal over Trump’s 2016 campaign and its ties to Russia. Contacts between Russian operatives and campaign officials prompted an FBI investigation and, later, a special counsel probe. In 2017, Putin joined Trump in denouncing those investigations. “Hoax,” complained Trump. “Invented,” said his friend in the Kremlin.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine—a friend and partner of the United States—was a giant step in his empire-building project. But even that was not enough to dull Trump’s friendly attitude. After promising and failing to end the war on day one of his presidency, Trump twice paused military aid to Kyiv, effectively siding with Moscow. He also shut down a Biden-era Justice Department office devoted to enforcing economic sanctions against Russia. He has suggested that Ukraine was to blame for the invasion and has appeared sympathetic to Russia’s claim over territory it seized in the Donetsk region.
Last March, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance did their best to humiliate Zelensky in front of the press during an Oval Office meeting. Both falsely accused Zelensky of failing to show gratitude for U.S. aid. Trump said Ukraine—despite fighting a much larger force to a standstill—was in a weak position. After Zelensky left, Trump posted on social media that the Ukrainian president would not be welcomed back until he was “ready for peace.”
In November, Trump and his negotiators appeared to cut and paste Russian talking points into a proposed peace framework. Under the initial plan, Ukraine’s defensive forces would have been reduced, Kyiv would have been forced to hold immediate elections, and NATO troops would have been barred from being stationed there—troops Russian officials warned would be considered military targets.
Which brings us to Putin’s recent phone call and Zelensky’s visit.
To be clear, Ukraine has been a serious and committed partner in developing a new, 20-point plan with the United States. It includes security guarantees for both countries, joint operation of a nuclear power plant seized by Russia, and the creation of a demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine where Russian forces currently occupy territory.
Russia, by contrast, has refused to negotiate in anything resembling good faith. Putin has not yielded an inch in his many contacts with Trump. Nevertheless, Trump has declined to criticize his friend in the Kremlin. Instead, he has claimed—against all evidence—that Putin is “ready for peace.”
Trump’s feelings, it seems, matter more than the death and destruction Putin continues to rain down on Ukrainian civilians. The missiles keep falling. The drones keep flying.
And the bromance goes on.
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