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Whose side are we on? Trump’s Ukraine policy is baffling

by James D. Zirin, opinion contributor - 10/27/26 8:30 AM ET

by James D. Zirin, opinion contributor - 10/27/26 8:30 AM ET

Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press President Trump, right, presents the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Oct. 8, 2026, in Washington.

President Trump’s Ukraine policy has been, as Winston Churchill famously said of Russia, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” In 2025, he humiliated Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. He also gave Russian strongman Vladimir Putin the red-carpet treatment, ended direct American economic and military aid to Ukraine and pushed absurd peace plans that only appease Russian aggression.

The tilt toward Russia makes no sense. Speculation runs wild. Is Trump is afraid of Putin? Does Putin have blackmail material on him?…