Tuesday, August 05, 2025

Trump was enraged by Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb

From the Atlantic:

"Ukraine Got a Major Battle Victory. Trump Is Not Happy

The president has fumed that Kyiv’s drone strike could prolong a war that he’s desperate to end

By Jonathan Lemire

June 5, 2025 

Ukraine’s drone strikes deep into Russia delivered a humiliating blow to Moscow last weekend. Kyiv’s defenders celebrated the attack as a triumph of modern warfare and a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the extraordinary operation got a different response inside the White House: anger.

Donald Trump has openly vented in recent weeks about Putin’s unwillingness to end the war. But since Sunday’s attack, which hit a series of Russian military airfields, the president has privately expressed frustration that the strike could escalate the conflict, according to three administration officials and an outside adviser to the White House. (They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.)

These sources told me that the drone strike has reignited the president’s long-held displeasure with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and prompted a new debate in the White House about whether the United States should abandon Ukraine. Throughout the war, Trump has deemed Zelensky a “bad guy” and a “hothead,” the outside adviser said—someone who could be pushing the globe toward World War III. Trump privately echoed a right-wing talking point this week by criticizing Zelensky for supposedly showboating after the drone attacks; according to the adviser, Trump was impressed with the audacity of the strikes but believes that Zelensky’s focus should have been on Ukraine-Russia negotiations in Istanbul..."

Ukrainian news agency UNIAN commented: "The American president really believes that Ukraine should obediently run to negotiations in Istanbul, where the Russians are bringing unacceptable ultimatums.

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