President Trump is making waves. In a post to Truth Social, Trump says he believes Ukraine can win the war against Putin. The president also took aim at Russia in the post, calling the country “a paper tiger.”
This shift is a marked difference from Trump and Vance’s meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in February that ended in a shouting match.
“This is a clear ratcheting up,” said Dr. Daniel Kempton, professor emeritus of Political Science at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Kempton said some will consider Trump’s shift as a return to Biden-era Ukraine policy. However, the professor notes, the Biden policy, “promised a lot of arms…which were basically given for free.” Trump, on the other hand, has decided to sell arms to NATO, which in turn gives the arms to Ukraine.
Biden-era policy also put restrictions on the arms it gave to Ukraine. “Trump has shown much more willingness to challenge Putin directly when he does go militarily,” Kempton said.
Territorial Boundaries
Trump’s Truth Social post represents a significant shift in his posture towards Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty. In August, Reuters reported that Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, “indicated that Putin was willing to withdraw from the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in return for Kyiv ceding Donetsk and Luhansk.”
Now, the President believes Ukraine can win their land back. “Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!”
After the post on Truth Social, President Zelenskyy told Fox News that President Trump’s stance represented “positive signals” that the US will be with Ukraine until the end of the war.
Drone Incursions
At the U.N. General Assembly, President Trump said that NATO can shoot down Russian drones that fly into NATO airspace. That development, Kempton said, is a “significant challenge by President Trump.”
Earlier in September, BBC reported that Poland shot down “at least three Russian drones” that flew into its airspace. Later in the month, NATO member Poland said it will “not hesitate to shoot down objects that violate its airspace and pose a threat,” according to Reuters. However, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk did say the country would be cautious if the incursions are not clear-cut.