In a rare rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump said this week he was “very angry” with the dictator for thwarting a Ukraine peace deal and that he’d consider new sanctions on Russia’s oil exports and its biggest international consumers. “If I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia.” That’s far better than putting tariffs on friends like Mexico and Canada and Europe.
We hope Trump sticks to it, but admit it’s not likely, as his word is not always his bond, to put it politely.
Trump isn’t bothered by Putin for the ex-KGB colonel’s consistent efforts to meddle in U.S. elections, his unprovoked invasion of a peaceful neighbor and constant threatening of the NATO alliance. Trump seems to care only about Putin making his negotiating skills look bad as the Russian despot skirts around accepting a U.S.-led ceasefire and calls for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to step down; as much as Trump seems to hate Zelenskyy, he hates Putin making him look like a fool even more.
Still, if this is what gets Trump to turn on his longtime favorite autocrat, then we’ll take it, though we’re skeptical that it will hold in the long term. So far, practically nothing Putin has done seems to have impacted Trump’s trust and even admiration, which of course has a touch of the aspirational; Trump clearly wishes that he was free to deal with things in the same way Putin does, openly doling out pilfered public funds to himself and his friends and having political enemies jailed and thrown from windows (we don’t think Trump is into defenestration).
Putin got rid of term limits in the Kremlin and Trump is openly toying with staying past eight years in the White House, telling NBC News that he’s “not joking” about seeking a third term in office.
No one should be repeating Trump’s musings without throwing in the word “unconstitutional.” The 22nd Amendment capping the president at two terms is as integral to the Constitution as any of the Amendments, from free speech and the right to practice the religion of your choice to trial by jury or the prohibition of quartering troops in private homes. And changing the Constitution required the overwhelming consent of the Congress and the states, so repeal of the 22nd Amendment isn’t happening.
Trump is happy to talk about switching places with JD Vance on the 2028 Republican ticket with Trump running a vice president and then Vance resigning. Trump says there are other options also with a smile, as the chatter juices up his most fanatical supporters and enrages his critics, which he enjoys.
But words should matter and a president’s words should matter the most. Slapping down Putin should mean something, but that pronouncement, like everything Trump utters, is undercut by him spouting nonsense, including about a third term, which his press secretary laughed off yesterday. It adds to the reality that it’s hard to believe anything he says.
George Washington, goes the fairy tale about chopping the cherry tree, couldn’t tell a lie. Donald Trump can’t stop telling lies. Of course, some of what Trump says is true and we pray that his current attitude towards Putin is for real.
