timelets

Regular reminder that Donald Trump’s core competency is not dealmaking with powerful counter-parties. It is duping gullible victims.

-- David Frum.
https://x.com/davidfrum/status/845314898276106240

“Konrad Heiden’s exposé A History of National Socialism (Zurich, 1934). To wit: “Hitler, unable to control himself, simply does not know what he promises; his promises cannot be considered the promises of a solid partner. He breaks his promises as soon as it is in his interest to do so, and all the while continues to view himself as an honest person.”

--- Kotkin, Stephen. “[Stalin 02] • Waiting for Hitler, 1928–1941.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/22/trumps-plan-to-let-putin-keep-land-seized-from-ukraine/


Donald Trump will let Vladimir Putin keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal.

The condition is part of a seven-point plan to end the war that leaves Ukraine with no clear US security guarantee.

The Trump administration’s peace proposal involves the US offering formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and implies de facto recognition of other occupied territories.

A source with knowledge of the plan’s contents said that its points one and two cover an immediate ceasefire and direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, which Mr Zelensky has already accepted in principle.

Point three requires Ukraine to refrain from seeking membership of Nato, though the country would still be free to join the EU.

European countries could deploy an assurance force to deter Putin from invading again, but The Telegraph understands that the plan does not commit the US to guarantee the security of any such deployment.

Point four covers territory, with America offering de jure recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the region of Ukraine which Putin illegally annexed in 2014.

Recognising Russian control of Crimea would violate a central principle of international law – and of the post-1945 world order – that no country can annex the territory of another. If land is seized then no nation is supposed to recognise this change.


As well as some territory switching hands to Ukraine, the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Ukraine and currently held by Russian forces, would be transferred to American control.

Under point six, Ukraine would sign the minerals deal allowing US companies access to the country’s natural resources.

Point seven raises the possibility of a new relationship between America and Russia, saying that all US sanctions would be lifted and the two countries could begin to co-operate on energy.

The plan contradicts several of Britain’s stated policy objectives. As recently as Feb 14, the Prime Minister told Mr Zelensky that Britain was committed to “Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato” membership. This proposal would block that path indefinitely.

When Trump blamed Ukraine for the Russian invasion, many people couldn’t understand how he could hold such a preposterous view. Some assumed he’d been hoodwinked by Russian propaganda. But there is a simpler explanation. According to the Trumpian worldview, considerations of justice, morality and international law are irrelevant, and the only thing that matters in international relations is power. Since Ukraine is weaker than Russia, it should have surrendered. In the Trumpian vision, peace means surrender, and since Ukraine refused to surrender, the war is its fault. 

--- Yuval Harari.

https://www.ft.com/content/06cc7b0f-3e32-4164-b096-ff92a1532236

...part of Trump’s psychological abuse is wearing down opponents so they stop repeating themselves, and give in to the lies. I will not be worn down. Truth matters.

Here it is: We have a sociopathic president in total command of a cult-like party; a Congress that, as long as the GOP controls it, is a rubber-stamp version of the Russian Duma under Putin; a court balanced precariously between a modest defense of the unitary executive and an Alito wing bent on empowering an American Caesar; and a Justice Department openly planning persecution of the president’s political opponents.

https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-bully-in-his-pulpit-0e5