About those Tomahawk missiles….
Not a week after Donald Trump floated the idea of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles, he backed away on Friday. The Kremlin made apocalyptic noise (again) after Trump’s Sunday comments on Air Force One on his way to Israel. Then Vladimir Putin got Trump on the phone the day before Trump met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Trump chickened out (again). Zelensky must have experienced that Lucy-and-the-football feeling (again). Still, he needs to keep Ukrainian hopes alive.
President Trump had repeatedly floated the idea of selling long-range missiles to Ukraine that would allow Kyiv to strike deep into Russia, increasing the leverage Ukrainians would have to force Russia to the negotiating table. Mr. Zelensky had scheduled a Friday meeting at the White House hoping to finalize the acquisition of the U.S.-made Tomahawk missiles.
By Friday afternoon, Mr. Zelensky had left that meeting disappointed, telling reporters that Mr. Trump had insisted on keeping the missiles. The Ukrainian president would no longer talk about acquiring them, though the two countries would continue discussing the matter.
What happened? One guess.
Between Mr. Trump’s comments on Tuesday about transferring long-range missiles to Ukraine and Mr. Zelensky’s letdown on Friday was a pivotal moment: a lengthy phone call between Mr. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who appeared to talk the American president out of the idea.
It was the latest example of Mr. Trump altering his position after a personal interaction with Mr. Putin. He has acknowledged in the past that he has felt misled by the Russian president. But his frustration with Mr. Putin often dissipates quickly.
A little fluffing of Trump’s ego. A casual mention of Trump Tower Moscow. (Is Trump is still falling for that one?) Except Trump never get that that Comrade Putin is doing a Russian version of Lucy-and-the-football. Trump will never be in the exclusive World Autocrats Club. But knowing how desperately Trump wants it (even more than a Nobel Peace prize) means Putin can get Trump to salivate every time he rings that bell.
Trump has ticky tackied the Cabinet Room too, hasn’t he?
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