Firefighters douse flames at a residential building while rescuers search the rubble for victims after a Russian ballistic missile strike on August 28, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. At least 12 people were killed and dozens wounded after an overnight wave of Russian aerial attacks. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Is President Trump headed for failure in Ukraine? He is pushing hard to get a deal that would end the Ukraine war. But in this instance, impatience is an enemy.
Unfortunately, the president appears to be pushing a settlement that would jeopardize Ukraine’s viability, thereby shaking the Free World to its core. Vladimir Putin is demanding territorial concessions that would fatally compromise Kiev’s ability to defend itself against another Russian assault. Behind the scenes, European leaders fear Trump is ready to ditch the goal of a truly independent Ukraine.
Putin has repeatedly lied to the president, and Trump declares he knows Putin has been leading him on. In reaction, Trump threatened to send deadly, long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, declaring that Ukraine shouldn’t give up any territory and that sanctions would be devastatingly ramped up against Russia.
President Trump is now backing down. He’s told President Zelensky no Tomahawks are coming and that Ukraine can’t win the war. The message seems clear: The invaded democracy should accede to most of what Putin is asking for.
What does this backdown do for President Trump’s credibility with Putin and Xi Jinping?
If President Trump persists in pursuing such a course, other nations will reach what would be a historic and truly frightening conclusion: The U.S. is no longer a reliable ally and they had better learn to accommodate China. All of Europe, not just its eastern and central parts, will have to kowtow to the Kremlin in addition to Beijing.
South Korea, Japan, Germany and others may well conclude that they should go nuclear as a deterrent to China, Russia and North Korea. But even with nukes, these countries would be hard put to pursue truly independent foreign and economic policies. Their physical safety may be insured, but not their freedom of action.
The anxiety of our allies has been heightened by the imposition of Trump’s tariffs. Some countries are beginning to ask themselves if China might be a more reliable trading partner than the U.S. The helter-skelter way in which the U.S. has handled the tariff issue has raised doubts about U.S. steadfastness. Constant chaos is not a foundation for lasting peace and prosperity. Tariffs themselves are a wedge between producers of products and services and their buyers.
Because of blunders by American, European and Japanese leaders and central bankers, the world economy hasn’t made much progress in the 21st century, now 25 years old. Hence, the political turmoil and the rise of nontraditional and often extremist parties. The European variety of these parties are sympathetic to Putin.
What makes the increasingly uncertain global situation more worrisome is the growing perception that Washington wants a weaker dollar to improve its trade balance. This dangerous delusion never seems to die, even though cheapening a currency is the very definition of monetary inflation. We tried this nostrum in the 1970s and again in the early 2000s with disastrous consequences in both instances, not only for us but also for the rest of the world.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveforbes/2025/10/22/is-president-trump-headed-for-failure-in-ukraine/
