Trump was not going to give Ukraine Tomahawks anyway

From the Obozrevatel: 

"Igor Eisenberg, Blogger, Professor of Computer Science 

Trump Never Intended to Give Ukraine Tomahawks 

October 19, 2025

The 47th president will always cling to any straw to avoid introducing any new sanctions against Russia and providing Ukraine with new military aid (the purchase of American weapons by European countries for transfer to Ukraine cannot be called American aid – it is aid from European countries with the consent of the United States). 

He can say all he wants that he's "disappointed in Putin," that he "doesn't like" Russia launching another missile attack on Ukraine, that he's "almost made a decision" about Tomahawks, but when the KGB major senses that his protégé in the White House is becoming too emotional in his statements, his aides inform the White House that he wishes to speak with the US President. A phone call and a conversation follow. And for the second time, even an invitation to meet. And the 47th president's mood immediately changes, he begins talking about "business projects" with Russia and "Trade" with it (Trump capitalizes this word; the quotation marks indicate it's a quote), and that he believes that "President Putin wants peace."

This could be repeated ad infinitum. Because Donald Trump sees the Russian dictator as a role model and idol, and Putin is associated with his dream of his own authoritarian rule. He may resent Putin when he ignores him and doesn't respond to his words. But let Putin contact the White House (in this case, it's crucial that the initiative comes from Putin), and even invite its occupant to a meeting, and all the resentments disappear.  

The 47th president doesn't know the wisdom of Soviet political prisoners about how to deal with the Cheka: "Don't trust, don't fear, don't beg." And so the 47th president methodically violates all three parts of this wise commandment—he trusts, he fears, and he begs. But even if he had heard this wisdom, he would hardly understand what it means. 

What does the 47th president even understand about what's going on in the world if, after meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, he tweeted (October 17, 4:46 p.m. Eastern Time):

"The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent. This is a War that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week — NO MORE, GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILIES IN PEACE!"

You might ask, what about international law? How can one fail to distinguish between the aggressor and the victim of aggression? These are rhetorical questions when applied to the 47th president. In his system of coordinates, where everything is determined by "deals," "you give me what I give you," anything goes. And a deal with the devil is as commonplace for him as a deal to build another tower in his name with someone else's money, part of which he is supposed to receive for the use of his name. He simply cannot think in any other terms.

Just as he can't stop repeating that the world wouldn't even exist if he were president. You don't need a psychiatrist to understand that, at a subconscious level, he wants to remain in power forever, and his subconscious generates this meme as a justification for his eternal power.  

And about two aspects of the real state of affairs. 

 It's clear that he had no intention of handing over any Tomahawks to Ukraine. He was only talking about them to provoke Putin's response, such as a phone call (and then a meeting offer). Technically, handing over the Tomahawks doesn't seem feasible today, since only two land-based Typhoon batteries for their launch exist today. They're being manufactured, a complex process that only began in 2024, and it takes time. But until there are sufficient quantities, it's hard to imagine the US exporting them. 

There are, however, other missiles, the AGM-158 JASSM, which can be launched from F-16s, and which Ukraine has been requesting from the United States since the first F-16s entered service with the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukraine's acquisition of these missiles is much more realistic, but not at a time when the 47th president is buoyed by Putin's call and anticipating a possible imminent meeting.

And hence the second aspect. Will the meeting in Budapest take place? Of course, Trump would very much like it to happen. But, apparently having learned from the experience of the disastrous and shameful meeting in Anchorage for him and the United States, this time the 47th president agreed to a meeting between Secretary of State Rubio and Lavrov, and some other American representatives with representatives of the evil empire, before his meeting with Putin. It follows that Trump was convinced this time that another disastrous meeting would reflect poorly on his image in the eyes of world leaders. That he needed to be a winner. And to do that, he needed to find out whether Putin would agree to a ceasefire before going to Budapest to meet with him..."

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As we all know by now, the meeting was canceled.