Ukrainian tanks on maneuvers in conflict with Russia. (Photo:
Donald Trump made an abrupt and radical departure on Russia and Ukraine today (Sept. 23) seemingly shifting his view of the war in Ukraine’s favor and sharply criticizing Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
The statment represents a 180-degree shift from his previous position regarding the conflict. But skeptics say the president may just be “gaslighting” to blunt reports he’s been compromised by Russia.
The move came after The New York Independent and other outlets reported on rising concerns in Europe that Putin is using “kompromat” — financial and sexual — to control the president.
Donald Trump has shifted his tone on Russia and the Ukraine war. (Photo: Getty)
In stunning statement last month, Portugese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated out loud that Trump, by his actions toward Ukraine and Europe, was a “Russian asset.”
“The top leader of the world’s foremost superpower is, objectively, a Soviet or Russian asset. He operates as an asset,” de Sousa said at a Portugese political event.
A former Soviet KGB agent and a former top intelligence officer in the Kazakhstan State Security Service during its time as a Soviet satellite, stated categorically in social media posts this summer that Trump has been compromised.
The kompromat file on Trump is “comprehensive,” Alnur Mussayev, the former Kazakh intelligence officer said, “extensive, meticulously documented, and designed not to destroy Trump—but to control him.”
The latest Epstein revelation is adding fuel to claims. Trump sent the convicted sex trafficker a salacious birthday letter in 2003, reveling in theirshared “secret.”
“Happy birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the president wrote.
Since taking office in January, Trump’s deference to Putin and the Russian president’s repeated humiliations have baffled and shocked foreign policy experts.
Related: Trump Latest Epstein Ties Intensify Focus Overseas on Russian ‘Kompromat’
Trump has praised Putin, attacked NATO, and undermined traditional U.S. alliances. He’s sided with authoritarian regimes like Russia and North Korea at the UN. And his language often mirrored Kremlin narratives.
One of the shocking episodes came in July 2018, after a summit in Helsinki, Finland. Trump accepted Putin’s word that Russia had not meddled in the 2016 presidential election over the findings of the FBI and his own intelligence agencies.
“On a global stage this was much more than disgraceful. It was a betrayal of American intelligence and thus treasonous,” wrote Askold Lozynskyj, a lawyer, and Ukrainian emigrant living in the United States, in August.
After Trump’s 2024 election victory, Putin authorized Russian state television to broadcast nude photos of First Lady Melania Trump. Russian TV hosts snickered and derided her. (See the video)
The nude photos appeared in a supposedly “congratulatory” broadcast. The normally thin-skinned, vindictive president responded by saying the photos were “nothing to be ashamed of.”
After Trump said he’d spoken with Putin by phone and urged him not to escalate the war in Urkaine, the Kremlin said no phone call had ever taken place.
In a bilateral meeting in February, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed in a live, televised broadcast from the Oval Office.
Trump’s position at that time was that Ukraine could not win the war and should make territorial concessions, including surrendering land Russia had failed to take by force, in exchange for a ceasefire.
The meeting was widely criticized for its confrontational, antagonistic tone, and most U.S. allies sided with Zelenskyy, according to press reports. Russia praised the outcome of the meeting.
At times, Trump has claimed Ukraine started the war, has called Zelenskyy a “dictator” and even chastized him for not wearing a suit to meetings, which he hasn’t done since the war started.
In another humiliation, Trump invited Putin to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the war. He told European allies he would walk out of the meeting and slap harsh new sanctions on Russia, if Putin refused to agree to an immediate cease fire.
Donald Trump’s salacious birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein was confirmed in Congress.
Trump rolled out a red carpet and applauded Putin as he debarked his plane in an embarrassing display of obesience. Putin responded by refusing all of Trump’s demands, intensifying the war and escalating aerial bombardment of civilian targets.
Trump not only did nothing, he has repeatedly delayed new sanctions.
Related: Blood-Soaked Brands: These U.S. Firms Are Still in Russia, Despite Sanctions, Putin Genocide
Against that backdrop, President Trump today was effusive in his praise for Ukraine in his Truth Social post.
He said with NATO financial support, it was “very much an option” that Ukraine could win back all of its territory, and “who knows maybe even go further than that!”
He wrote that Russia had “BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.” He also said his administration will continue to sell weapons to NATO nations “to do what they want with them.”
Trump also told reporters NATO countries have the right to shoot down any Russian aircraft that violate their airspace, but stopped short by saying U.S. support woul “depend” on the circumstances.”
Related: Trump Epstein Scandal Screws Tighten as Victims Speak Out, Demand Justice
Zelenskyy called on the U.S. and Europe to intensify pressure on Russia with secondary sanctions, something Trump has threatened but delayed several times.
Whether Trump’s new outlook on the war leads to action remains to be seen. But at least it gives the president some cover for supporters to claim Russia isn’t influencing his decisions with “kompromat.”