[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

Reported today that Trump surrendered to Putin. Hope the Europeans will step in and help them out. I thought Trump was a weasel. I didn't know he was a yellow-belly as well.

He wants to stop the war because he hates people dying in wars but imo most importantly because of this:

Losses of American companies from anti-russian sanctions amounted to $300 billion.

Returning of Intel, McDonalds etc. is good for American business.

Also:

Trump has indicated that he wants Ukrainian minerals as a form of "security" or "guarantee" for the substantial financial and military aid the U.S. has provided to Ukraine. This proposal is part of a broader strategy where Trump has suggested that future aid could be tied to Ukraine granting the U.S. access to its valuable mineral resources, which include rare earth elements crucial for various high-tech applications.

Ukraine can join the EU but not Nato so the EU can spend money on rebuilding Ukraine and not getting the goodies.

Also:

Total Aid to Ukraine (Military, Humanitarian, Financial): Europe: Europe, including the European Union and its member states, has committed approximately $190 billion in aid to Ukraine.
USA: The United States has committed about $106 billion.

Allocated Aid (Aid that has been earmarked for specific purposes or delivered):
Europe: Around $109 billion has been allocated.

USA: Approximately $79 billion has been allocated.

Trump is a strategic businessman and doesn't really care about allies etc so far.

[William May]

Putin must be dancing with joy! Last night was the best sleep he had in the last 4 years. At the VERY LAST MINUTE, in the depths of his despair, he actually WON THE WAR!!!
All the Russians are laughing behind their hands!

Trump makes Chamberlain look like an Einstein!

[scorpion9]

Trump is the biggest failure for the US in their entire history, and he is also the biggest win for the Russians in their recent history.

Trump is a textbook case for a narcissist and he doesn't care about any of the people in the Ukraine...or even in his own country. Narcissists dont have the kind of capability to empathize with others as most people do. For him, the deaths in these wars are just "annoying numbers" that interfere with his business plans.
If Trump had been the US president during the second world war, he would have probably blamed France for attacking Germany, and made deals with Hitler to sell them the "Best quality zyklon B gas ever made. It would bring in billions and billions of dollars"

Its also strange that he fails to understand, that the US dollar has its strength because so far, United States has had the strength to stand up for its values. Dollar is powerful because US is powerful and it had powerful allies. Things might start changing now that trump is busy turning US into an autocracy, betraying all of its allies who share the same values and aligns itself with other dictators. I agree with those who say that its time for EU to really unite and start working together. EU should have its own army and if every member contributed 5% towards defense, it could one day rival the US army.

[Guns N' Coffee]

I feel his exasperation:

[Vincentsdream]

We all knew realistically once trump won he'd bow to putin.

[WonderMomma]

If anyone needs me I'll be in the corner for the next four years, like I was the last four years.

[dfinsvalde]

I think that American politics is now returning to the Spoils System of the Andrew Jackson era.

I think the Spoils System is helpful in a national crisis like Ukraine.

Zelensky was criticized for his crony-centered government before the war.

While the capital Kiev was surrounded and a desperate battle was being fought, Vladimir Putin encouraged Zelensky's cronies and Ukrainian military commanders to stage a coup.

If there had been even one person among the existing high-ranking officials or politicians who was pro-Russian or a traitor out of fear, it would have been difficult to guarantee President Zelensky's safety.

The downside of the Spoils System is that personnel change every time the party changes, so it is difficult to have expertise when the government changes quickly.

That is why I think Trump wants to remain in power for a long time like other dictators.

Also, the Spoils System is likely to place in government officials incompetent parachute personnel due to their own interests, corruption, or lack of vision.

This will lead to corruption and disruption of discipline in national administration.

Also, since politicians are appointed to public office based on loyalty, there is a concern that the political culture will degenerate into a totalitarian system centered on those in power.

Also, the Spoils System is not a system that evaluates ability. By assigning important positions such as ministers of specific ministries to members of the ruling party or politicians who lack expertise, people who lack overall understanding of the ministries will end up leading the entire organization.

In this case, ministers who lack basic knowledge may come up with completely wrong policies or be led around by other experts such as vice ministers.

I believe that the U.S. government will solve these problems because there are many smart people in the government.

[scorpion9]

Originally Posted by dfinsvalde ↗

I think that American politics is now returning to the Spoils System of the Andrew Jackson era.

I think the Spoils System is helpful in a national crisis like Ukraine.

Zelensky was criticized for his crony-centered government before the war.

While the capital Kiev was surrounded and a desperate battle was being fought, Vladimir Putin encouraged Zelensky's cronies and Ukrainian military commanders to stage a coup.

If there had been even one person among the existing high-ranking officials or politicians who was pro-Russian or a traitor out of fear, it would have been difficult to guarantee President Zelensky's safety.

The downside of the Spoils System is that personnel change every time the party changes, so it is difficult to have expertise when the government changes quickly.

That is why I think Trump wants to remain in power for a long time like other dictators.

Also, the Spoils System is likely to place in government officials incompetent parachute personnel due to their own interests, corruption, or lack of vision.

This will lead to corruption and disruption of discipline in national administration.

Also, since politicians are appointed to public office based on loyalty, there is a concern that the political culture will degenerate into a totalitarian system centered on those in power.

Also, the Spoils System is not a system that evaluates ability. By assigning important positions such as ministers of specific ministries to members of the ruling party or politicians who lack expertise, people who lack overall understanding of the ministries will end up leading the entire organization.

In this case, ministers who lack basic knowledge may come up with completely wrong policies or be led around by other experts such as vice ministers.

I believe that the U.S. government will solve these problems because there are many smart people in the government.

The downside of the Spoils System is that personnel change every time the party changes, so it is difficult to have expertise when the government changes quickly.

That is why I think Trump wants to remain in power for a long time like other dictators.

Nah. Dictators dont care about expertise. They care about loyalty. Experts would agree that having a dictatorship is bad, and get rid of the dictator on day one.
Dictators want to stay in power for as long as they can, because they are almost by definition, criminals. Staying in power is therefore mandatory. Once you lose power, your crimes will be investigated and you will have to be held accountable.
Can Putin resign and expect noone to address the corruption, missing funds, murdered people and so on. Nope. He doesnt have a choice to resign. Same goes for Trump. Well, criminal actions are partly the reason why he ran for the second term in the first place. He had to. He was being investigated for the crimes he committed during his first presidency. From this point onwards, he will try to stay in power until he dies. Or he will appoint one of his sons to be the president and pardon him.
Either way, Trump family isnt going anywhere any time soon.

I believe that the U.S. government will solve these problems because there are many smart people in the government.

US cant really solve this problem because Trump and his cult will get rid of all the smart people in the administration. They are literally firing people by their thousands. There is only 1 criteria to serve in the trump government - Loyalty. Thats how completely unqualified TV show hosts get to power and run the country and military.
Smart people under Trump administration must pretend to be stupid and retarded. That way, they can work behind the scenes, whilst staying off the radar.

[jkesil]

So what’s the situation? Where are russkies videos ? I don’t see that mich of them lately

[AmigoBandar]

Originally Posted by jkesil ↗

So what’s the situation? Where are russkies videos ? I don’t see that mich of them lately

Saw some recently of their fiber optic drone work against Ukrainian vehicles, but didn't post them because they lacked gore. But it might be worthwhile to see its video quality (believe it lags a bit):

1) Russian Fiber-Optic FPV drones hit Ukrainian Armoured vehicles and IFVs in the Kursk Region.

2) Ukrainian 30th Mechanized Brigade 'Aerobomber' targets a lone russian invader with a drone-dropped munition.

3) Ukrainian "Incognito group" of the 54th Mechanized Brigade caught a small Russian infantry group during a night mission. Siversk direction.

4) Ukrainian 44th Mechanized Brigade's "Liberatores" drone team spotted and hit Russian soldiers in the Kursk Region.

5) Ukrainian 77th Airmobile Brigade's UAV team hit a Russian soldier inside a trench. February 2025, eastern Kharkiv front.

6) Another wounded Russian grenades himself while being attacked by a drone .... from the 38th Marine Brigade