Sorry, Volodymyr Zelensky. There won’t be any Tomahawk missiles headed to Ukraine now that Russian President Vladimir Putin successfully hijacked the Ukrainian president’s masterplan. Putin had managed to talk and charm U.S. President Donald Trump over the phone just one day before Zelensky’s arrival at the White House. Trump said his session with Putin was “very productive”.
Zelensky had to go home empty-handed from a Friday White House meeting after Trump indicated he was not ready to supply sought-after Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Instead, Trump took to social media to call for Kyiv and Moscow to end the war. “Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!” – said Trump.
Later, soon after arriving in Florida, where he’s spending the weekend, Trump urged both sides to “stop the war immediately” and implied – again – that Moscow keep territory it’s taken from Kyiv. “You go by the battle line wherever it is – otherwise it’s too complicated. You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it.” – Trump told reporters.
That’s a spectacular U-turn. After meeting with Zelensky in New York on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly last month, Trump said he believed the Ukrainians could win back all the the territory they had lost to Russia since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. That was a dramatic shift for Trump, who had previously insisted that Kyiv would have to concede land lost to Russia to end the war.
Zelensky had been hoping to persuade Trump to up his game and confront Russia more openly. Since the Alaska summit in August, where Trump had hoped – and failed – to convince his buddy Putin to start a peace talk to end the war, the frustrated U.S. president has approved further cooperation between American and Ukrainian intelligence services, helping to better target Russian energy infrastructure.
Capitalizing on Trump’s anger towards Putin, Zelensky was optimistic of a deal. Ukraine believes using Tomahawks to strike at Russian oil and energy facilities would severely weaken Putin’s war economy. A highly accurate missile with a powerful warhead that can fly more than 1,000 miles, the Tomahawk can reach targets inside Russia far beyond any of the weapons the U.S. has provided to Kyiv until now.
In fact, Zelensky was so confident that he sent his closet adviser, Andriy Yermak, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to Washington to meet with Trump administration officials ahead of the Friday meeting. Ukrainian officials also met with representatives of major U.S. defense-industry companies involved in production of Tomahawk missiles and other weapons, including RTX and Lockheed Martin.
However, Trump’s latest decision amounted to another U-turn on the Ukraine-Russia War. In recent weeks, he had shown growing impatience with Putin and expressed greater openness to helping Ukraine win the war. The Tomahawk cruise missile that Trump was considering for Ukraine has been the weapon of choice for decades for U.S. presidents seeking decisive military solutions.
But giving away Tomahawk missiles, which can reach deep into Russia, would escalate the conflict, particularly with the Kremlin threatening that it would skip the rules of the game and go directly to nuclear. Besides, cruise missiles alone are unlikely to shift the course of the war unless the White House is prepared to supply them in large numbers and allow Ukraine latitude to strike a range of targets deep inside Russia.
Even then, Tomahawks, which fly at subsonic speeds at a low altitude, could be vulnerable to Russian air defenses. The Pentagon would also have to supply Ukrainians with ground launchers that can fire the missiles. Tomahawks are usually fired from warships and submarines at sea. While the Pentagon and defense contractors are developing a variety of ground-based launchers, the systems are in short supply.
A bigger issue for the White House is assessing how Moscow would respond to such an escalation. Though the Biden administration provided Ukraine with the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which have a range of only 190 miles, it never seriously considered providing Tomahawks, largely because of its concern it could prompt a direct confrontation between the U.S. and Russia that could spark World War 3.
Fresh from ending the Israel-Hamas’ 2-year war, President Trump, who has claimed that he has “ended 8 wars in just 8 months” in a social media post with the title “The President of Peace”, is more interested in winning the Nobel Peace Prize than to help Zelensky win the war. Therefore, the last thing Trump wants is to idiotically start a nuclear war with Putin just because of Zelensky.
Because Ukrainian military would depend on the U.S. for training on the Tomahawk system and targeting system, Trump would drag the American military directly into a war with Russia – precisely what Zelensky and European warmongers like France and Britain are hoping for – if he makes the silly mistake. Trump can’t say it was not his fault if Tomahawks strike at Russian critical infrastructures.
Even though Trump has mooted repeatedly about providing the weapons (at times suggesting that he would only do so after talking with Putin), Moscow knew the U.S. president was merely bluffing. It’s the same tactic used in threatening China with triple-digit tariff rates in the ongoing trade war, only to chicken out upon the Chinese retaliations that could engulf the U.S. economy in meltdown.
As expected, Trump’s tone on the war shifted after he held a lengthy phone call with Putin on Thursday and announced that he planned to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest, Hungary. Putin warned Trump during the call that supplying Kyiv with the Tomahawks “won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but would instead cause substantial damage to the relationship between our countries,”
Asked on Friday if he was concerned that Putin was tricking him, Trump acknowledged it was a possibility but said he was confident he could handle the Russian leader. “I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well. I think I’m pretty good at this stuff” – Trump said. It’s an admission that Trump is ready to be played by Putin, who has easily outflanked Zelensky.
For better or worse, Trump prefers to meet with Putin – again – even if the Commander-in-Chief knew it was a trap. With the Russian leader dangling yet another bait of a ceasefire, the American leader has little choice but to bite it. At worst, he would be mocked and ridiculed for being played again. At best, he could avoid a bigger catastrophe of a war with nuclear-armed Russia that the U.S. isn’t interested to fight.
Donald Trump would be more than happy to grab any option or possibility that would drive Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bring a speedy end to the war. Tomahawk is just a bait to pressure Moscow to back down. Trump never wanted to arm Ukraine from the beginning with it because it could also encourage other Western nations to provide more in the way of long-range systems.
He described the weapons as “a big deal” and said that the U.S. needed them for its own defence. He also said that supplying Tomahawks to Ukraine could mean a further escalation in the conflict, but that discussions about sending them would continue. That was as clear as it could be to signal that Tomahawk is off the table, even though Zelensky suggested his country could offer drones in exchange for the Tomahawks.
A master tactician, “Vladimir”, as Trump likes to call him, may well have deliberately intervened to hijack nemesis Zelensky at the eleventh hour to give Trump an excuse not to deliver more potent weapons to Ukraine – because both Trump and Putin do not want the Tomahawks to complicate any potential of a ceasefire. Putin just needed to sell a story that some kind of viable agreement could be forged.
The best part is, both Trump and Putin knew Zelensky would behave and dare not throw tantrums. After the meeting, Zelensky was asked by a reporter outside the White House if he thought Putin wanted a deal or was just buying time with the planned meeting with Trump in Budapest. To save face, he argued that the prospect of Ukraine having Tomahawks had caused Russia to be “afraid because it is a strong weapon”.
Everyone goes back home happy. Trump said “great progress” was made during a phone call with Putin. Zelensky pretended Russia was afraid of Tomahawks. Putin laughed at how he easily stopped the delivery of Tomahawks with yet another fruitless meeting with Trump. Like the Alaska summit, Trump will once again emerge from Budapest meeting certain he was on track to arranging direct talks between Zelensky and Putin.
Other Articles That May Interest You …
- Trump Pushing Putin & Zelensky To Talk – But Ending Ukraine War Is Easier Said Than Done
- Better Luck Next Time In Moscow – How Putin Plays Trump For A “PR Victory” At Alaska Summit
- Forget 39% Swiss Tariffs – India In Bigger Trouble As Trump Slaps Extra 25% Tariff To 50%
- Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs On Russia – But Here’s Why Russian Markets Jump In Celebration Instead
- Zelensky Last Stand – How Strategist Putin Trapped 10,000 Ukrainian Troops In Kursk, And Slaughtering Them Now
- A Meeting Turned Into Shouting Match – How Trump-Vance Whacked Zelensky Before Kicked Him Out Of The White House
- Ukraine Has Lost The War – Zelensky Forced To Surrender Minerals Deal To Trump, But EU Hasn’t Figure That Out
- Pawns Europe & Ukraine Got Played – The Hidden Message Behind US-Russia Talks In Saudi Without Allies
- The Real Reason Behind Ukraine Invasion – NATO Chief Stoltenberg Admits Russia Invaded Ukraine Due To NATO Expansion
- Ukraine War – China’s Military Support For Russia Would Be Really Bad News For U.S. & Allies
- From Wheat To Oil & Gas – How Russia Invasion Of Ukraine Affects Europe’s Food Supply, And Even Your Loaf Of Bread
|
|
October 18th, 2025 by financetwitter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ayatollah Avocado Anwar can easily entice Tariffs Trump by dangling a datuk, tuktuk, or even a tan sri title since the Orange Utan has been so desperate trying to get a Nobel prize. And since he has been passed by with not many wanting to put his name up for nomination for the Nobel, Ayatollah Avocado should step into the picture and offer one, or maybe even two of our hundreds of coveted titles.
Since nobody noticed Ayatollah Avocado trying to be noticed in his effort at peace in the Middle East, he surely would be if he climbs a table and shout out he has a datukship to offer. While, MacDani is a sinking ship and it’s a good time to offload a bottle cap or two from our titles industry.
Giving away our titles won’t harm us and can provide immense prestige to Trump. If he can’t get the Nobel, surely it is the next best he gets a title or even a bunch of it from our Ayatollah Avocado. We can always recoup the cost of giving our titles away free, remember there are more than plenty of our dumb fcuking monkeys who would pay plenty for any title.
Our patriots must impress upon Ayatollah Avocado he must give Trump a title or two or three while he still can. It won’t be long Ayatollah Avocado falls and MacDani collapses and the gomen will not be able to dangle our bits of tin and pewter.
It costs us nothing and it can get Uncle Trump very proud and happy to wear our Tinpot dictators’ decorations. Having failed miserably getting himself any attention in the Middle East, Ayatollah Avocado Anwar can at least boast he managed to get Trump interested in our bits and pieces of our tin and pewter.