Aug 18 - Donald Trump thinks of a new idea: No elections if there's a war - page 2

Of course its ok. What are you talking about? Half or more of these world leaders, not just Trump, are terrible people. Responsible for the deaths of a lot of innocent people and many of the problems around the world.
If everything was right in the world people like Bush, Obama, Trump, Putin, Netanyahu l, would all be getting the death penalty for their crimes.
Yes. Some people deserve it.

Do you consider yourself an extremist? Wishing death on American politicians is pretty out there. Just saying.

That's not that out there. These guys are mass murderers. Every one of them except maybe Carter. Maybe there's some sh1t I dont know about him maybe he is too.
They def deserve to be as dead as the civilians they have all massacred.
But thats not how it works, we dont live in a fair world. So no I'm not just sitting here praying someone shoots him, but I def ain't gonna be upset if someone does.

So you don't vote?

Receipts? Most the Ukraine aid has been in the form of old and decommissioned weapons. Stick to your pro consumer posts, your takes are better there.

That's not that out there. These guys are mass murderers. Every one of them except maybe Carter. Maybe there's some sh1t I dont know about him maybe he is too.
They def deserve to be as dead as the civilians they have all massacred.
But thats not how it works, we dont live in a fair world. So no I'm not just sitting here praying someone shoots him, but I def ain't gonna be upset if someone does.

Yes. Dunno why this got slapped. Hunter Biden was on the board of a Ukrainian energy company for pretty much no reason.
Pretty much just obvious corruption, to have an ear to someone who was high in the US government.

I hope people understand that this was a joke and a slight at Zelensky.


Zelensky literally cancelled elections until the war is done.

It was a genuine question but II thought so. I remember years back, can’t remember exactly but there was a lot of coverage with Ukraine and Biden, couldn’t remember if it was Joe or Hunter.

Then this war pops off when Joe Biden was president.

The world is a stage

Someone needs to do it already.

Out of its 249 years (1776–2025), the U.S. has been involved in military conflicts for about 230+ years.

That’s roughly 92% of its existence.

Someone needs to take a look at where Zelensky is spending that money America is giving him or keeping it for himself, he's a fraud!!!!!!!

Receipts? That's not how international money laundering works. Zelensky went on national Television and said himself that he doesn't know where all the billions of dollars went. Just cause you choose to stay ignorant and blindly loyal to a party that couldn't give you broke a$s niccaz student loan relief doesn't mean the rest of us can't ask questions.



non-biased non-US source

On February 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he had only received $75 billion of the $175 billion the United States had spent on Ukraine. The cry went up, what happened to the other $100 billion? Was it lost or stolen? The answer is no. Only part of the aid goes through Ukrainian control. A large part pays for activities as a result of the war but not to Ukraine directly. These include the United States training of Ukrainian forces, global humanitarian assistance, additional costs of U.S. surge forces in Europe, and intelligence support for both NATO and Ukraine.

As CSIS has reported before, “aid to Ukraine” is a misnomer because 90 percent of military aid is spent in the United States. Of aid overall, 60 percent is spent in the United States, about 25 percent is spent in Ukraine, and the final 15 percent is spent globally.

Q1: What did President Zelensky say that started this controversy?

A1: In an interview with the Associated Press on February 2, Zelensky stated:

When I hear that America gave Ukraine hundreds of billions [of dollars], 177, to be more precise . . . as the president of a warring country, I can tell you that we received just over 75 . . . We are talking about specific things, because we got it, not with money but with weapons. There is training, there is additional transport, there are not only prices for weapons. There were humanitarian programs, social, etc. . . . $100 billion of these 177, we never received. When it’s said that Ukraine received $200 billion to support the army during the war, that is not true. I don’t know where all the money is.

The statement is a bit confusing since he was speaking off the cuff in a video interview. He refers to both $177 billion and $200 billion. He speaks about supporting the “army” where aid helped all elements of the Ukrainian armed forces, and he appears to include only weapons as aid “received.”

Q2: How was that interpreted?

A2: Many people asked where the “missing” $100 billion went and seized on the statement, “I don’t know where all the money is.”

Comment sections of media reports flamed with accusations of corruption and malfeasance. Some online commentators speculated about corruption by the CIA, Ukrainian officials, or former President Joe Biden. Some linked it to viral social media claims alleging a conspiracy involving U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) payments to celebrities to visit Ukraine. Others cited this as evidence of government waste, suggesting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) investigate and identify cuts. DOGE had previously raised concerns about the U.S. government’s ability to track aid to Ukraine. Members of Congress and Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, amplified posts questioning the misuse of aids.

General Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, denied these interpretations. He noted that “we have a pretty good accounting of where it is going” and that most appropriated funds are spent in the United States.
Nevertheless, the controversy has had an effect. In private conversations, Republican congressional staff members say that the confusion and hint of corruption have poisoned the possibility of further aid, at least in the near term.

Q3: So, what happened to the “missing” $100 billion?

A3: The short answer is that it is not missing. The funds went (mostly) to activities that arose because of the war, and all are accounted for. Some paid for sending equipment and funds directly to Ukraine. A large part went to activities that arose because of the war but were not spent in Ukraine. To see why this is the case, it is important to look at the funding as a whole.

Since 2022, Congress has appropriated $175.2 billion in aid as a result of the war in Ukraine, a slight difference from the $177 billion that Zelensky cites. This includes all funds in the five supplemental appropriations, $900 million in the regular budget but excludes $9 billion in loans. Most has been delivered, and most of the remainder has been obligated through contracts and binding commitments. However, it will take many years for all the contracts to be completed and the money disbursed.

In past analyses, CSIS has divided aid to Ukraine into categories to illustrate the different purposes. Figure 1 shows how the $175 billion is laid out in seven categories. It’s all there, the $75 billion Zelensky cites and the “missing” $100 billion.
Military equipment: Replacement of equipment sent to Ukraine from U.S. stockpiles (through Presidential Drawdown Authority) and foreign military financing of equipment for Ukraine.

U.S. industrial base and general Department of Defense (DOD) spending: Items that enhance U.S. military capabilities, particularly the defense industrial base, but are not directly related to the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI): Mostly money for Ukraine to procure equipment directly from U.S. manufacturers, also supports maintenance of Ukrainian equipment, training of Ukrainian personnel and units, and Ukraine-related intelligence activities.

U.S. forces: Funds for the extra costs of U.S. forces that surged to Europe in response to Russian aggression. Some of these surge forces have returned to the United States, but others remain.

Humanitarian aid: Aid to relieve suffering because of the war. Mostly done through nongovernmental organizations in Europe for Ukrainian refugees, though some is spent in the United States and Ukraine. Some of the budget is also spent on global food relief. About $3 billion has gone to international development, unrelated to the war.
Economic: U.S. funds are provided to the Ukrainian government through the World Bank to make up for lost tax revenues and to keep governmental services operating.
Other U.S. agencies: Funds for activities in U.S. agencies other than the DOD, Department of State, and USAID, for example, for the Department of the Treasury to enforce sanctions and for the Department of Energy to safeguard nuclear materials.

Q4: So, what did Zelensky mean when he said Ukraine had only received $75 billion?

A4: It’s unclear how he did the math, but there are several plausible explanations.
Most likely, he added the value of announced military equipment ($34.1 billion for drawdown, $33.2 billion for USAI, and $6.3 billion for Foreign Military Sales). That comes to $73.4 billion, close to the $75 billion Zelensky cited. However, not all that equipment has arrived, so calling it “received” is not accurate. “Committed” would be better.
Zelensky might be using calculations done by the Kiel Institute in Germany, which tracks global support for Ukraine. Their number for U.S. military aid through October 31, 2024, is $64.5 billion; adding the $5.9 billion announced since then brings the total to $70.4 billion, close to the CSIS calculation.

A final approach (Figure 2) includes all aid going directly to Ukraine ($120 billion, yellow bar). This is mostly equipment, but also economic support and the humanitarian funds spent within Ukraine. This goes far beyond the quantity Zelensky cited but does make the point that the other pieces he mentions are quite important.
Regardless of how Zelensky did the math, the bottom line is the same: no money is missing. Also important is that most of the money is not delivered directly to Ukraine but handled by trusted agencies, mostly the U.S. military, the Department of State/USAID, and the World Bank. The image of pallets of cash being sent to Ukraine is inaccurate. This doesn't say whether the United States should or should not provide more aid, but it does provide better information for making that decision.

"during a war you can't have elections" .... Says who? Zelensky doesn't want an election because he knows he will be voted out. Has America every skipped an election because it was at war? Not Vietnam, not the Korean war, not the Iraqi war, not WW1 or WW2.

Someone needs to do it already.