A switch’: Brit Hume says Trump’s stance on Ukraine has changed completely

Daily Caller News Foundation

Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said on Fox News Wednesday that President Donald Trump has dramatically shifted his position on Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social that Ukraine can reclaim all its land with the support of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and he called Russia a “paper tiger” fighting aimlessly. Hume said on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that Trump has completely changed his tune and has gone further, openly belittling Moscow’s military power.

“It certainly is a switch from the position that President Trump earlier took with regard to Ukraine’s prospects in the war with Russia. You’ll recall, and you actually played the clip earlier, where he was saying to President Zelenskyy, you remember back in February, that Ukraine had no cards to play, and he at times has accused Zelenskyy and Ukraine of starting a war,” Hume told host Bret Baier. “He’s changed his tune completely, and now he says not only that, but that they can win the war and drive Russia out of the territory it has conquered since the invasion.”

Trump clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February, telling him he was in no position to dictate terms. Trump warned that Zelenskyy had “no cards to play” without U.S. support and accused him of gambling with World War III.

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Hume said that Trump’s new remarks on Ukraine mark a rhetorical shift, but he warned that the president has not outlined any new measures beyond long-standing proposals like arms sales through NATO.

“That is a strikingly different thing to say, and he’s now been belittling Russia’s military power as a military operation that has failed to gain any significant ground in quite some time. At the same time though, Bret, I think it’s worth noting that what he is talking about happening now, apart from selling weapons through NATO, which costs the United States nothing and might even make money to the United States, is not anything new here,” Hume said.

Hume added that while Trump floated familiar ideas like tougher sanctions, he stopped short of promising new action.

“There’s been talk of new sanctions on Russia. There’s been talk about kicking them out of the international banking system, secondary sanctions against China, perhaps. There are some against India, but beyond that, the President didn’t really promise to do anything. He’s just changed his tune about the possible outcome of the war,” Hume said.

Trump met Zelenskyy in New York on Tuesday and posted about the war shortly afterward. He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August to discuss a peace deal, but the talks have since stalled after Zelenskyy refused.

Trump also urged Zelenskyy in August to abandon NATO membership and Crimea. He said on Truth Social that Zelenskyy could end the war “almost immediately” by dropping both goals, noting they would discuss the matter after his meeting with Putin.

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