No. of Recommendations: 6
… Pete Hegseth continued to embarrass himself and the US at the NATO Summit in Brussels today. After his comments yesterday detailing how the US was willing to give up every bit of negotiating leverage with Russia, he tried to walk some of it back while generally looking like a bumbling drunken fool completely out of his depth.
… Hegseth opened his remarks to the group of 32 Secretaries of Defense by ridiculously claiming that the US doesn’t have the naval firepower to deal with Russia’s fleet. He told his counterparts with NATO that it will take at least 7 years to rebuild our Navy before it can catch up to Russia. Incompetent, absurd lies, playing right in to Putin’s hands and destroying our credibility on the world stage.
… Hegseth then further beclowned himself with this gem: “Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker.”
… Trump said Ukraine has to make some concessions to Russia since they volunteered themselves to be invaded: “I think they have to make peace. That was not a good war to go into.”
…. But Trump said that Russia deserves to keep the conquered territory since they worked hard for it. He was asked if he could see a future where Ukraine returns to its pre-invasion borders: “It certainly would seem to be unlikely. Russia took a lot of land and they fought for that land.”
… Sen. Tim Kaine - “Am I missing something or did Trump just give Russia exactly what it wants in Ukraine – no NATO admission, Russia keeps Ukrainian land, and Putin gets to visit the U.S.? In return for… one prisoner exchange? That’s the grand deal?”
… Trump ally Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) told Punchbowl he isn’t thrilled with how this is being handled so far: “I’d prefer we don’t give away negotiating positions before we actually get started.”
… European leaders were stunned trying to deal with Hegseth and Trump’s comments yesterday about Russia and Ukraine. Hegseth said that the US will hold talks with Russia that will not involve Ukraine or EU nations in attendance, said NATO will not admit Ukraine, and said that it’s up to Europe to defend itself.
… President Zelensky responded that Ukraine will not accept any agreements reached between Russia and the US if he is not included in the discussions, and said that other European countries must be included as well.
… AP reported that several EU leaders addressed Hegseth and Trump’s comments. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey: “There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”
… German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: “For me, it’s clear that Europe must be involved in the negotiations — and I think that’s very easy to understand,” particularly if Europe is ”supposed to play a central or the main role in the peace order.”
… EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas: “We shouldn’t take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started, because it plays to Russia’s court. Why are we giving them everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started? It’s appeasement. It has never worked.”
… Former Trump NSA John Bolton on Trump negotiating with Putin without Zelensky being involved: “Putin doesn't want to negotiate with Zelensky. He wants to negotiate with Trump because he thinks he'll get more out of him. And he's absolutely right.”
… Bolton also posted this on X: “It is unconscionable to allow Russia to assault Ukraine’s sovereignty, recruit enemies like N. Korea to aid in their fight, and then sell out the Ukrainians by conceding the loss of their territory and NATO security guarantees or membership. By making these and other concessions before negotiations even started, Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin on Ukraine.
… Bolton on CNN later after Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed: “They're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle in the Kremlin tonight. It was a great day for Moscow. This is palpable harm to American national security, because what Hegseth and Trump did was not only blow up the NATO position on Ukraine, they blew up a thing called the Belovezha Accords. Not only is unprovoked aggression by Russia against Ukraine now ok, every other former Republic of the Soviet Union is vulnerable to the same thing without any indication that the US will do anything about it.”
… One of Trump’s first acts as president was to disband the Kleptocapture task force that seized Russian assets. That was another bargaining chip that we could have used in negotiations that was just voluntarily given away for nothing in return.
… Russian State Media Monitor Julia Davis reports on comments from two of their most popular TV hosts: "Trump is sawing through the western world," Luzyanin said. "One piece is Canadian, another one is European. We'll see how successful he'll be with his saw." Host Popov responded that Trump is using tactics right out of the Russian playbook: "Basically he is taking our bread and butter. We wanted to saw the western world into pieces, but he decided to saw through it himself.
Ron Filipkowski
