Trump's Futile Efforts to Find a Diplomatic Solution to Ukraine
On 25 November 2025, I was on Glenn Diesen’s podcast talking about Europe’s bleak future, given the pressure on the “American pacifier” to pivot to Asia and away from Europe, coupled with the increasing hostility between Europe and the United States. Relatedly, we discussed at length the ongoing efforts of the Trump administration to settle the Ukraine war in the face of great resistance from European and Ukrainian leaders as well as Russia’s unwillingness to compromise on its principal demands. There is no way that Trump can fashion a deal that is acceptable to the Europeans, the Russian, and the Ukrainians. This conflict will be settled on the battlefield.
Btw: I don’t think it’s an accident that things always go screwy when someone like Rubio shows up and starts “working”.
At some point, Trump just needs to tell the Europeans to well… “We don’t care! We’re going to do this. If you want sanctions and don’t want to recognize Crimea as Russian, that’s your prerogative.”