Originally Posted by Chris

Trump has been in the business of saying what he needs to say to his various client groups in order to get elected. Now he’s got elected he’s in the business of doing what he needs to do in order to feather his own nest. He’s a property tycoon, not a politician. Everything is a deal, everything is about his reputation.

What he is not is an ideologue. So notwithstanding any of the Russian talking points the ideologues surrounding him have been parroting, the only way Trump is ever going to intervene in the Russia-Ukraine war is in a way that either makes money or enhances his reputation (or both). Not long ago Trump probably assumed the best way to enhance his reputation was to cosy up to Putin, who he has long regarded as his sort of guy, tough and no-nonsense. The problem now is that Putin is weak and getting weaker. So what does Trump do? I suspect Trump now calculates that the best way for Trump to benefit is for him to put the boot into Putin. And his statement this afternoon would very much line up with that suspicion.