Good morning. Nobody is more surprised than Donald Trump, but he is starting to think that Vladimir Putin is not a straight shooter. “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “He has gone absolutely CRAZY! I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!”
As ever with Trump, a part of you admires the chutzpah: the idea that Trump has long been troubled by Putin’s imperial ambitions is, of course, an absolutely warped version of the real history. But – even if Trump also criticised Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, grumbling that “everything out of his mouth causes problems” – there does seem to be a sense that the US president is becoming more seriously disillusioned with Putin as a partner, and seeking ways to avoid blame for the consequences.
