Ukraine

As the fervor over the Trump/Zenlensky spat subsides and reality checks back in, where does the world stand. Trump has clearly laid out the US positions saying that there will be no US military protection but the US will set up manufacturing in Ukraine, near the Donbas region and this will deter any Russian invasion for fear of killing American workers. Zenlensky’s position is to gather the forces of Europe and stand up against Putin. Trump is fine with that which puts the ball in Europe’s court and removes the US from the war. This means Europe will have to divert some of its social spending to defense spending, which is highly unpopular with people who have grown up with lots of benefits, because the US was paying for their defense. Just as some were saying that the democrats need a Joe Rogan, the Europeans need a Trump. From the European standpoint, as the dust settles, the plan that Trump proposes is looking better all the time. Trump will go to Putin and say that the West will not allow Ukraine to join NATO and he can keep Crimean which he took in 2014 and he can have the Russian speaking areas of Ukraine, mostly in the Donbas region in return for ending the war. This allows Putin to save face and go home with the victory of keeping NATO away from the borders of Russia. This will save Ukraine from many more years of destruction and loss of life and allow Europe to spend the money that would have gone to the war effort on rebuilding Ukraine.