President Donald Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, and things didn't go well. Standing beside Air Force One on the ramp at Joint Base Andrews, Trump told the press that he's "not happy" while decrying a lack of "any progress" regarding the war in Ukraine.
None of this suggests a peace deal is on the horizon.
ALSO SEE: Russia Just Spit in Trump's Face, and It's Time They Reap the Whirlwind
Trump discusses his phone call with Putin, about Iran and the Ukraine war, stating he's "not happy" and "didn't make any progress" with Putin. pic.twitter.com/3YQ9KTKDjS
— Disclose.tv Clips (@disclosetvclips) July 3, 2025
Just before the call, Putin left the stage at a conference, claiming that he didn't want to keep Trump waiting. That led some large right-wing accounts on X to claim it was a sign of respect. Given how the call turned out, that obviously wasn't the case, and I'm going to be direct about this issue in a way that may tick some people off, though hopefully not.
Here's the hard truth: Putin does not respect Trump, and he does not respect the United States. At some point, even the most anti-Ukraine parts of the right are going to have to come to terms with that. There is no magic bullet here, and Putin can not be relied on as a rational partner in peace. Does that mean we should go to war with Russia? Of course not. There's simply no justification for American military involvement given the localized nature of the war and the risks involved, specifically regarding Russia's nuclear arsenal.
But being skeptical of military and even financial involvement in the war in Ukraine does not mean one has to be naive and blind to who Putin is (or worse). He is still a scumbag with delusions of grandeur who wants to return to some semblance of the Soviet era. He's given multiple speeches since the start of the war expressing that specific motivation. In other words, this is ultimately an ideological battle for Putin, not a practical one, and that is why a practical resolution has proven so elusive despite the huge number of Russian casualties.
Trump clearly understands that. He's been publicly criticizing Putin for several months now, including threatening increased sanctions. It's time to pull the trigger on those, but they will likely not change the current trajectory of the war. So what's the answer? There may not be one. Sometimes life doesn't leave any good options, and Putin doesn't have any reason to end the war absent any internal pressure. What that looks like for the United States, barring some type of miraculous turnaround, is likely more of the same.
In the meantime, Republicans, including the commentary class, should not be lured into a false binary between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Russian president. Whatever one thinks of the former, the latter is still Vladimir Putin.
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at RedState, we will stand up and fight against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member