by
Mark
Wilson/Getty
Images)
On
the
campaign
trail,
Donald
Trump
repeatedly
promised
that
he’d
end
the
war
in
Ukraine
either
before
he
took
office
or
within
24
hours
of
taking
office.
Though
he
has
since
claimed
“it
was
said
in
jest,”
it
definitely
wasn’t.
At
least
53
times
Trump
said
he
would
settle
the
war
between
Russia
and
Ukraine
quickly,
at
the
very
latest,
on
his
first
day
in
office.
Not
once
did
he
say
this
in
an
even
vaguely
humorous
context.
Occasionally
he
addressed
those
who
wrote
the
24
hour
promise
off
as
a
boast
or
an
exaggeration
by
emphasizing
that
he
very
much
meant
it
literally.
To
the
grave
misfortune
of
the
entire
world,
Trump
took
office
for
his
second
term
on
January
20,
2025.
He
obviously
did
not
end
the
war
in
Ukraine
in
24
hours.
One
full
year
later
Russia
is
no
closer
to
ceasing
its
chosen
war
of
naked
aggression
against
Ukraine.
Trump
blames
heroic
Ukrainian
president
Volodymyr
Zelenskyy
for
his
inability
to
follow
through
on
his
campaign
pledge.
This
is
just
about
the
stupidest
thing
I’ve
heard
from
the
mouth
of
a
man
who
says
more
stupid
things
on
a
daily
basis
than
any
other
human
being
in
existence.
Zelenskyy
does
not
have
the
ability
to
end
the
war
quickly.
If
he
agreed
to
“peace”
on
Trump’s
terms
—
a
giveaway
of
Ukrainian
territory
and
people
to
Russia
—
the
Russian
military
would
only
pause
to
temporarily
lick
its
wounds
before
coming
back
for
the
rest.
For
the
sake
of
argument,
let’s
say
that
Zelenskyy
did
agree
to
Trump’s
surrender
plan
in
a
moment
of
delusion.
That
would
not
change
the
situation
on
the
battlefield
much.
Unlike
the
U.S.
military’s
top-down
structure
(which
seems
a
more
and
more
dangerous
configuration
by
the
day
given
who
is
currently
at
the
top)
Ukraine’s
armed
forces
are
segmented.
If
the
order
came
down
from
Zelenskyy
to
lay
down
arms
in
capitulation
to
Russia,
most
of
Ukraine’s
fighters
would
disobey
it
to
fight
on
under
regional
commanders.
There
are
only
three
ways
this
war
could
end.
First,
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
could
lose
his
grip
on
power.
He
could
be
removed
by
an
external
force,
his
own
people
could
get
so
sick
of
his
disastrous
policies
that
they
get
rid
of
him
themselves,
or
he
could
die
randomly.
No
Putin,
no
war:
Trump
would
be
able
to
use
U.S.
resources
to
make
Putin
go
away
if
he
really
wanted
to,
but
he
won’t,
because
he
seems
to
be
in
love
with
the
man.
Second,
Ukraine
could
defeat
Russia
in
combat,
pushing
its
forces
beyond
Ukraine’s
borders.
Once
again,
Trump
has
the
power
to
end
the
war
in
this
fashion
(maybe
not
constitutionally
if
he
tried
to
do
it
all
on
his
own,
though
we’ve
seen
him
go
well
beyond
his
constitutional
powers
time
and
again
without
consequence
in
support
of
far
less
noble
goals).
Trump
probably
wouldn’t
even
need
to
put
any
American
lives
at
risk.
He
has
no
interest
in
empowering
Ukraine
enough
to
make
this
happen
in
2026.
Which
leaves
the
third
possibility:
Russia
could
conqueror
all
of
Ukraine.
Although
this
is
possible
in
the
metaphysical
sense
of
the
word,
something
big
would
really
have
to
change
for
this
to
take
place
within
the
next
12
months,
or
ever,
and
it
wouldn’t
really
end
the
broader
conflict
anyhow.
Ukraine’s
European
allies
wouldn’t
let
this
happen,
even
if
its
fickle
American
ally
would,
knowing
they’d
be
next
on
Russia’s
chopping
block.
Furthermore,
this
outcome
would
merely
transform
the
war
into
an
insurgency
in
Ukraine.
Trump
was
never
going
to
be
able
to
end
the
war
in
Ukraine
during
his
first
24
hours
in
office.
He
could
have
ended
it
during
his
first
year
in
office,
but
he
chose
not
to.
He
won’t
end
it
during
his
second
year
in
office
either.
The
Ukrainian
people
are
nowhere
near
to
giving
up,
and
Russia
is
too
weak
to
overpower
them.
That
means
if
the
war
ends
in
2026,
it
will
be
because
of
a
chance
mishap
befalling
Putin,
not
anything
Trump
does.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].