Trump and Ukraine

FYI.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: Sarah Paine: the Risk of Nuclear War, WW3 and NATO
To: Grant

Grant, 

I don't know that Trump has alienated all our allies.  He has insisted that countries not take advantage of us and pay more of their fair share where applicable.  He claims to be looking out more for our interests.  

I think that tariffs are in general bad policy, except as a trade negotiating tool, or to deal with hostile nations.

Trump tends to be hyperbolic and impulsive, while at the same time pursuing good goals.  I see more good than bad, maybe by just a bit, but he is far better than the alternative.  Harris wanted to tax unrealized capital gains.

In regard to Ukraine, your facts are correct, but Trump has been pursuing a negotiated settlement as opposed to endless costly war.   (Biden was willing to spend the money while tying the hands of Ukraine.)  Zelensky publicly said that he wasn't willing to concede anything, but he assumed that we would give them unlimited financial support.  Trump is trying to force a settlement, so that we don't have to keep paying for this war.

At the start of the war I took the position that this was not in our national interest.  Now that we have spent $200 billion we can't just walk away.  Russia was also never going to walk away empty handed, so I think that Trump is just trying to settle this thing.  It might not be the best for Ukraine, but they were never going to win completely against Russia, not unless Putin were to be deposed.

My reasoning is that we are going bankrupt, and fiscal reality will someday hit us really hard.  I think that Trump understands this, and does not want the United States carrying the weight for other countries.  Ukraine, at best should have been a European problem and not an American one.

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Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com