Chris

“I didn’t think the face-eating leopard would eat my face” says man who spent years sucking up to face-eating leopard

Etc etc etc

Or, what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? In this case, Trump’s ego on one side, and Putin’s glorious purpose (to restore the glory of the Rus) on the other.

Trump seems to have thought he was Putin’s equal, and his New York tough guy dealmaker schtick would earn him Putn’s respect and co-operation. Putin, on the other hand, saw Trump for what he is: a midwit bully whose influence derives from inherited wealth rather than any personal wit or skill. Putin, I am certain, despises Trump and will not give him what he wants. He will string him along for as long as he can and get whatever he can out of it, then carry on with his plan to rebuild the Russian empire. That is his life’s mission, and anyone who thinks he’s going to give that up for any reason is fooling themselves.

Trump is never going to get a genuine peaceful resolution out of this. The only question is at what point he properly understands it. Because that’s the point at which he will suffer narcissistic injury, and when Trump feels personally wounded by people not caving in to his demands, he is petulant and unpredictable.