Trump, speaking days ahead of Friday’s scheduled meeting with Putin in Alaska, offered no specifics on the consequences.
It’s quite possible that Trump will engage Russia in a different type of warfare – the economic type.
Asked specifically if he would apply stronger tariffs against Russia, Trump answered with, “I don’t have to say.”
But where there’s no information there’s speculation.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) said on Washington Watch Wednesday there’s a good chance for economic pressure from the U.S.
“I think what's on the table for Vladimir Putin … having his economy wrecked by the United States of America, who's the hottest economy on the planet right now,” he told show host Jody Hice. “As you know, everybody's coming to the United States of America for trade deals. Literally, this president has the ability to shut off Vladimir Putin's ability to do business with the rest of the reasonable world.”
Depending on how broad and coordinated the measures, economic pressure against Russia could lead to a weakened Russian ruble, increasing import prices and inflation.
Just the uncertainty could push foreign investors away from Russian businesses.
If sanctions targeted oil and gas exports (Russia’s main revenue source), even threats could lower investor confidence in Russian energy projects.
U.S. sanctions in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine continue. Trump extended them in February with an anticipated end date of March 2026 unless Congress intervenes.
If Trump indeed ratchets up economic pressure it would mean “the Russian people are going to suffer for this war in Ukraine, and I don't think that Vladimir Putin really wants to endure that. I think the president's basically telling Mr. Putin he's ready to impose that on him if he's not going to get reasonable about coming to a resolution in Ukraine,” Perry said.
A conclusion to the war in Ukraine would be another box checked among Trump campaign promises, albeit later than Trump promised during the run-up to the 2024 election.
Why the U.S. interest in Ukraine?
The question Blaze Media host Steve Deace asked on American Family Radio Thursday is why are we there in the first place? What is the strategic advantage to U.S. involvement?
It’s a question Deace says he’s floated often to major politicians and others who might offer insight.
Deace told show host Jenna Ellis that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is deeply connected with billionaire liberal mega-donor George Soros and other elites in the World Economic Forum, which meets annually in Davos, Switzerland.
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a George Soros proxy. Why does it matter if George Soros and his interests in Brussels and Davos’ interests are in control of Crimea or Moscow's. I mean who’s the good guy there? I'm asking,” Deace said.
Presently, Russia controls approximately 20% of Ukraine, primarily the southern and eastern regions which border Russia.
This includes the entirety of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 and parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which came under Russian control following the invasion of February 2022, part of the current war.
“The answer that I typically got back was, ‘well, Putin is trying to establish another Soviet Union.’ He hasn’t been able to subdue Ukraine in 3 ½ years. Come on man, come on,” Deace said.
Putin’s ambition was a frequent talking point in the days after the invasion but has since vanished, Deace said, “because all the reasonings and tropes they gave us all fell apart. I don’t know why we’re so invested in this. I don’t know why the president feels an obligation to insert himself at all.”
But insert himself he will, Friday at Elmendorf-Richardson, a U.S. military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
Perry believes economic warfare will be part of the Trump-Putin discussion.
“From President Trump’s standpoint, he doesn’t want to send troops to Ukraine. Americans don’t support that,” Perry said.
It’s a fact not lost on Putin, but as the war in Ukraine has dragged on, Trump has strengthened the economy in the U.S.
“Putin has been playing that card for as long as he can, but I think that the president has taken some time to shore up the United States economy, to show the rest of the world who the big dog is in town, including China. Now the president is willing to unleash that awesome capability and ability that the United States has economically to cripple Russia.”
Dealmaker needs NATO help
Trump, most likely, would rather make a deal. The question is what has to happen – or not happen – for Trump to walk away?
Trump has thrown out phrases like a “land swap,” an idea firmly rejected by Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president who won’t attend the Alaska meeting.
Zelenskyy has called the idea “illegal” under the Ukrainian constitution.
Trump will have to lean on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partners to convince Zelenskyy to give in, or the war will continue, Deace said.
“Vladimir Putin is not taking any deal that does not at a minimum include the provinces in the Crimea that already voted by referendum to join the Russian Federation. That is the bare minimum he's going to walk away with.”
