Aug 19 - Trump: Ending Ukraine war might get me into heaven

President Trump has expressed hope that ending the Russia-Ukraine war will help pave his way to heaven.

The prospect of winning a Nobel peace prize has long been on Trump’s mind when he wades into international disputes, but he raised a different motivation in a Fox & Friends interview on Tuesday morning, his first since meeting President Zelensky and seven other western leaders in the White House.

“I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” he said. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I really hit the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”

Reflecting on his cordial summits with Zelensky on Monday and President Putin on Friday, Trump ruled out Ukraine joining Nato, describing it as “impossible”, and suggested the US commitment to security guarantees would be limited to “air” as divides began to emerge with Europe after their show of unity in Washington.

Trump said the idea of Ukraine joining Nato was “insulting” and called the country “a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe”, using Moscow’s talking points.

The change in tone from the US president marked a repositioning to place himself in between western Europe and Russia, where he believes he stands the best chance to broker peace.

It also became clear just how much control Putin retained over the process as signals were mixed whether he would go through with a meeting with Zelensky, envisaged at the Washington gathering as the crucial next step.

Trump fell back on a familiar time frame for judging the success of the peace initiative, referring to the “couple of weeks” he so often says will be necessary when asked about delivering on his promises. “We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks … It’s possible that he doesn’t want to make a deal,” he said.

Trump appears to have abandoned all talk of further sanctions on Russia, severe or otherwise, and also of a ceasefire, as he banks on assurances to him from Putin that he is committed to making a comprehensive peace deal.

He also seemed to back away somewhat from responsibility for the success of his peace process, saying he would attend a three-way summit with Putin and Zelensky, provided a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders “works out”.

“We’re setting up a meeting with Putin and Zelensky,” he told Fox & Friends. “They’re the ones that have to call the shots, we’re 7,000 miles away … We’ll see what happens there and then if that works out — if it works out — then I’ll go to the trilat [trilateral meeting] and close it up.”

Stressing how much now relies on the attitude of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, he added: “I hope President Putin is going to be good, and if he’s not, that’s going to be a rough situation — and I hope that President Zelensky will do what he has to do. He has to show some flexibility.”

On Monday, Trump left open the possibility of US troops assisting security guarantees for Ukraine, but there has been a backlash from the isolationist wing of his Maga base.

Asked about US “boots on the ground” on Fox & Friends, he said: “When it comes to security, they’re [the Europeans] willing to put people on the ground. We’re willing to help them with things, especially probably if you could talk about air because there’s nobody has the kind of stuff we have.”

Russia has objected to the deployment of any European troops in Ukraine, claiming this would amount to a Nato presence on its borders.

However, Trump said: “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem, to be honest with you. I think Putin is tired of it. I think they’re all tired of it. But you never know. We’re going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks.”

Asked about “land swaps”, Trump sounded like he was leaning towards Russia’s attempt to take the eastern region of the Donbas as the price of a durable peace to end the killing. He also returned to a former talking point that Ukraine bore some responsibility for the Russian invasion.

“Look, everybody can play cute and this and that, but, you know, Ukraine is going to get their life back, they’re going to stop having people killed all over the place and they’re going to get a lot of land,” Trump said. “But this was a war and Russia is a powerful military nation.

“You know, whether people like it or not, it’s a powerful nation. It’s a much bigger nation.

It’s not a war that should have been started. You don’t do that. You don’t take on a nation that’s ten times your size.

“I assume you’ve all seen the map. You know, a big chunk of territory is taken and that territory has been taken. Now, they’re talking about Donbas, but Donbas right now, as you know, is 79 per cent owned and controlled by Russia. So they understand what that means.”

Trump reiterated his belief that his predecessor, President Biden, was to blame for the war, which he maintains — and Putin told him he agrees — would not have started if Trump were president at the time.

Audio in case @buzzkill Claims fake news. Basically admitting how evil he is

Why did you tag me?

Hopefully your king can end this like he did the 7 other conflicts.

Why did you tag me?

Hopefully your king can end this like he did the 7 other conflicts.

When did you jump out of the maga cult?

Damn I missed it!

This. That gotdam psycho was just battling me yesterday for talking sh1t about his savior. Now he says he’s my king

these deplorables be having split personalities on this site

This. That gotdam psycho was just battling me yesterday for talking sh1t about his savior. Now he says he’s my king

these deplorables be having split personalities on this site

Why did you tag me?

Hopefully your king can end this like he did the 7 other conflicts.

This. That gotdam psycho was just battling me yesterday for talking sh1t about his savior. Now he says he’s my king

these deplorables be having split personalities on this site

When did you jump out of the maga cult?

Damn I missed it!

All u progressives have the same talking points.

Can you think for yourself?

Battling? Most likely I was proving you wrong.
He's your daddy. You're obsessed with trump.
Why did you tag me?

Weird how you would need to prove someone wrong against a person you don’t like. Multiple people know you stan for him. Now you talkin it’s not me it’s you

I'm just asking, when did you leave the maga cult?