"This is not my war,” stated President Donald Trump emphatically to a dubious—nay, hostile—White House Press Corps when asked about the potential outcome of negotiations with Russia over ending the Ukraine War. Whether those in the corporate press fully grasped what the 47th president was saying is another matter. 

Without stating it plainly, the president was essentially acknowledging that he had no real leverage over Russia to get them to end the war. So, rather than needlessly drag out this hopeless conflict (for the NATO side of the proxy war with Russia), where 5,000 young men die every week, Trump is readying to cut his, and America’s, losses. 

Every patriotic American should welcome this outcome. Because it is very likely that the Ukraine War will go beyond merely a regional proxy war if the conflict continues longer with American support, a prospect compounded by the fact that the Ukrainians are getting increasingly desperate.

Thus, any negotiation will not be a serious affair. Rather, Trump needs the appearance of an attempted negotiation so that he can walk away and unilaterally declare peace. In so doing, the United States will finally be able to divorce itself from the losing Ukrainian situation. 

There is, unfortunately, no cleaner way for Trump to leave this quagmire. His predecessor simply left Trump with no real leverage over either Ukraine or Russia. 

The Europeans, America’s supposed allies in this shambolic proxy war, lack any significant military capacity on their own but are willing to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. Once that last Ukrainian us killed off, the Europeans will giddily fight Russia in Ukraine to the last American GI. Trump understands this. He won’t play along forever with a delusional Europe and a recalcitrant Ukraine.