After vowing as a candidate to bring an end to the Ukraine War, President Trump has publicly stated he is unhappy and frustrated with Vladimir Putin after an olive branch approach that hoped Russia’s president wants a quick end to the bloodshed.
This week, in a blunt statement, Trump said he is giving Putin a 50-day deadline to come to the peace table and end the war.
In an example of his new strategy, Trump has announced the U.S. will resume sending Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and, in a first, will sell weaponry to NATO countries that will be sent to Ukraine.
National security expert Bob Maginnis, who has followed the Ukraine War closely, calls the NATO arms deal a “win-win proposition” for our country that has diminished its own arsenal to help Ukraine.
“This is going to help ramp up production,” Maginnis predicts, “because our demand for replenishing that arsenal, plus the ongoing demand for the war in Ukraine paid by the Europeans, is going to help our manufacturing base.”
In a related AFN interview, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) said President Trump’s aggressive actions toward Russia come after he was “bending over backwards” to give Putin a chance to end the war. Trump's actions now, the senator said, acknowledge he knows the Russian president has no intention to do so.
Wicker said lawmakers on Capitol Hill support the 50-day deadline and the NATO arms deal after learning about it Sunday.
Regarding the ongoing claim from Democrats that Trump is cozy with Putin, Maginnis says the U.S. president is not a "Putin stooge" as claimed.
"In fact, it communicates just the opposite," Maginnis argues.
"Also, Trump's threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on third-party buyers of Russian energy is a very strong and appropriate move," the national security expert adds. " It shows he understands Putin's weakness and that China and India must pull away from financing Russia's ongoing war."
