Flip

Flop

Dealing with the Bear, ©2025 William L. Brown

For a crazy minute Trump was on track. He said Ukraine could win the war. He seemed to understand that Russia was the aggressor, and that Ukraine was crippling Russia’s weapons-making and the oil/gas-producing infrastructure that funded it. There was a strong hint that the US would allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons that could be decisive.

But then on the cusp of a White House meeting with Zelensky, Putin called Trump and … who knows? Offered a bribe? It was a tense meeting between Zelensky and Trump. There was shouting. There would be no long range-weapons - too escalatory.

Two-faced Trump, ©2025 William L. Brown.

Experienced Ukraine advocates are not surprised by the flip-flopping. They met yesterday’s news with a shrug, Trump announced sanctions against two big Russian gas producers. OK, whatever. How many days before the next flip?

Even when he does something helpful to Ukraine he continues to insist that Ukraine sacrifice territory in exchange for “peace.” Ukraine, desperate not to contradict Trump, adapts to this policy. A ceasefire that left currently occupied territories in Russian hands—which is what Trump calls for—would be a good start to negotiations that would restore occupied lands to Ukraine, says Zelensky, Trump ignores Zelensky’s point, but has implied several times that Russia somehow deserves occupied lands because they fought so hard for it.

This is appalling. The invasion and occupation were violations of international law. Authorities don’t award the spoils to lawbreakers for their admirable efforts. By Trump’s logic, the thieves who recently robbed the Louvre should, when caught, be allowed to keep the loot because they were so clever.

This is a quick post as I pack for DC to do more lobbying for Ukraine with the Ukraine Action Summit. There will be over 500 delegates representing almost every state. We’re not sure what to expect if the government is still shut down. Or what might happen if it opens while we are there. Either way, meetings with Congress-members might get cancelled.

As I’ve reported before, New Hampshire delegates have it easy. Our representatives are firmly behind Ukraine. Our main task is to thank them and remind them we’re still here. Delegates from states with hard-line GOP Congress-people have a harder job. They try to find common ground and from there use persuasion. This has been a successful tactic. There are enough GOP congress-members backing Ukraine to pass resolutions.

I’ll leave you with a seasonal drawing of my Cat-Bat demon who has made an annual Hallowe’en appearance for about four years.

You can get your very own sweatshirt with this drawing on my Zazzle store. You can use the design on other products if you wish: t-shirts, trick-or-treat bags, aprons, etc. Happy Hallowe’en!!