PUTIN'S HANDPUPPET
Trump says had ‘pretty strong words’ with Europeans on UkraineBy AFP
December 10, 2025
The Ukraine war has been the deadliest conflict on European soil since World War II. — © AFP Darya NAZAROVA
US President Donald Trump said he exchanged “pretty strong words” Wednesday with the leaders of France, Britain and Germany on Ukraine, in the latest sign of a growing rift on how to end Russia’s invasion.
Trump added that the Europeans wanted to hold fresh talks this weekend but warned that that they risked “wasting time” amid divisions over a US plan to bring the war to an end.
“We discussed Ukraine in pretty strong words,” Trump told reporters when asked about the phone call with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“I think we had some little disputes about people, and we’re going to see how it turns out. And we said, before we go to a meeting, we want to know some things,” Trump added.
“They would like us to go to a meeting over the weekend in Europe, and we’ll make a determination depending on what they come back with. We don’t want to be wasting time.”
US President Donald Trump has actively pressed European leaders to help end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Trump has been pushing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to a US plan, and accused Zelensky of not reading the plan.
But Ukrainian officials told AFP on Wednesday that Kyiv had sent an updated draft of the plan to Washington.
An initial US plan that involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not captured was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as aligning too closely with many of Russia’s hardline demands, and has since been revised.
Talks between US officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin last week also failed to reach a breakthrough.
Trump’s comments come amid a growing rift with Europe after he described it as “decaying” and “weak” on immigration and Ukraine, days after a new US national security strategy said the continent risked “civilizational erasure.”
The US leader meanwhile gave the latest in a series of hints that he may walk away from a conflict he blames on his predecessor Joe Biden, and which he once said he could end within 24 hours of returning to office in January.
“Sometimes you have to let people fight it out and sometimes you don’t,” Trump said on Wednesday.
“But the problem with letting people fight it out is yet you’re losing thousands of people a week. It’s ridiculous. The whole thing is ridiculous.”
Ewan Gleadow
December 10, 2025
December 10, 2025
RAW STORY
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in the annual ceremony to pardon the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Tuesday, November 25, 2025, in the White House Rose Garden. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
The European Union is fast-tracking plans to preserve peace without the aid of the United States following comments from Donald Trump's administration.
A defense official representing a European country told Politico that "awkward" conversations over America's involvement in the continent were now being prioritized as the "uncertainty" of how the US would react to global conflicts is "just too high". The preparation comes following the release of the Trump administration's National Security Strategy.
Though the administration has played a part in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, the National Security Strategy makes it clear the US will no longer prop up "the entire world order". Such comments have caused uncertainty in European nations, some of which are now fast-tracking plans for a continent without America's influence.
The strategy published by Trump's administration reads, "The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over. Wealthy, sophisticated nations ... must assume primary responsibility for their regions."
Trump's discontent was made clear in an interview earlier this week where he said world leaders in Europe "don't know what to do" and that the continent is "decaying".
Experts had warned earlier this week that Trump's disinterest in Europe would be a "brutal lose-lose" for everyone involved. Analysis from Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman saw the pair warn a deprioritization of European stability would be "remarkably abstruse."
They wrote, "hina, they argue, is the decisive theatre, not Europe, and US attention and assets must shift accordingly. Washington has signalled some version of this pivot for more than a decade. Yet European governments have found the idea that the US might actually deprioritise the continent’s security remarkably abstruse."
"The war in Ukraine has intensified this tension: Europe’s thinking is that a US withdrawal or an imposed, unequal peace would produce chaos in Ukraine and instability across Europe." Riekeles and Folkman believe this is part of a larger plan from the US government to shape European politics in a Trump-friendly system.
They wrote, "Because it is clear that as Washington draws back militarily, it will pull even harder on its other levers: financial power, diplomatic pressure, export controls, trade measures and secondary sanctions. These instruments will increasingly be used to steer Europe in the political direction the US wants."
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump participate in the annual ceremony to pardon the national Thanksgiving turkeys, Tuesday, November 25, 2025, in the White House Rose Garden. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
The European Union is fast-tracking plans to preserve peace without the aid of the United States following comments from Donald Trump's administration.
A defense official representing a European country told Politico that "awkward" conversations over America's involvement in the continent were now being prioritized as the "uncertainty" of how the US would react to global conflicts is "just too high". The preparation comes following the release of the Trump administration's National Security Strategy.
Though the administration has played a part in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, the National Security Strategy makes it clear the US will no longer prop up "the entire world order". Such comments have caused uncertainty in European nations, some of which are now fast-tracking plans for a continent without America's influence.
The strategy published by Trump's administration reads, "The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over. Wealthy, sophisticated nations ... must assume primary responsibility for their regions."
Trump's discontent was made clear in an interview earlier this week where he said world leaders in Europe "don't know what to do" and that the continent is "decaying".
Experts had warned earlier this week that Trump's disinterest in Europe would be a "brutal lose-lose" for everyone involved. Analysis from Georg Riekeles and Varg Folkman saw the pair warn a deprioritization of European stability would be "remarkably abstruse."
They wrote, "hina, they argue, is the decisive theatre, not Europe, and US attention and assets must shift accordingly. Washington has signalled some version of this pivot for more than a decade. Yet European governments have found the idea that the US might actually deprioritise the continent’s security remarkably abstruse."
"The war in Ukraine has intensified this tension: Europe’s thinking is that a US withdrawal or an imposed, unequal peace would produce chaos in Ukraine and instability across Europe." Riekeles and Folkman believe this is part of a larger plan from the US government to shape European politics in a Trump-friendly system.
They wrote, "Because it is clear that as Washington draws back militarily, it will pull even harder on its other levers: financial power, diplomatic pressure, export controls, trade measures and secondary sanctions. These instruments will increasingly be used to steer Europe in the political direction the US wants."
Trump slams ‘decaying’ and ‘weak’ Europe
By AFP
December 9, 2025
US President Donald Trump said there were some 'stupid' leaders in Europe
Danny KEMP
President Donald Trump blasted Europe as “decaying” and “weak” on immigration and Ukraine in an interview published Tuesday, deepening a rift between the United States and some of its oldest allies.
Speaking to Politico, Trump also called on war-battered Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold elections despite Russia’s invasion and said that Moscow had the “upper hand.”
Trump’s comments doubled down on extraordinary criticism of top US partners in his administration’s new national security strategy last week, which recycled far-right tropes about civilizational “erasure” in Europe.
“Most European nations, they’re decaying,” Trump told Politico in the interview, conducted Monday.
The 79-year-old billionaire, whose political rise to power was built on inflammatory language about migrants, said that Europe’s policies on migrants were a “disaster.”
“They want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak. That’s what makes them weak,” Trump said, adding that there were “some real stupid ones” among Europe’s leaders.
Trump also criticized European nations over Ukraine, amid growing differences over a US plan to end the war that many in Europe fear will force Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
“NATO calls me daddy,” Trump said, referring to comments by the military alliance’s leader Mark Rutte at a summit in June when leaders backed Trump’s call to raise defense spending.
But he added: “They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.”
European leaders have been trying to woo Trump since his return to office in January, especially on maintaining US support for Ukraine against Russia.
Trump’s interview will intensify the alarm in European capitals sparked by the US security strategy last week, with its calls for “cultivating resistance” in Europe on migration and warnings of so-called “civilizational erasure.”
Experts have said parts of it echo elements of the “great replacement theory” promoted by the far-right — and Trump’s former ally Elon Musk — which alleges a conspiracy to replace white populations.
– ‘Not a democracy anymore’ –
In contrast to the savaging of close US allies, Russia and China got off relatively lightly in the US strategy. The Kremlin said the US document aligned with its own worldview.
A French minister, Alice Rufo, said Tuesday that the US security strategy was an “extremely brutal clarification of the ideological stance of the United States.”
In his Politico interview, Trump said countries including Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden were being “destroyed” by migration.
He also launched a new attack on “horrible, vicious, disgusting” Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor. Khan told Politico that Trump was “obsessed” with him and said US citizens were “flocking” to live in London.
Trump also had sharp words for Ukraine and for Zelensky, in his latest seesaw in relations with the leader whom he called a “dictator without elections” in January and then berated in the Oval Office in February.
“I think it’s an important time to hold an election. They’re using war not to hold an election.” Trump said. “It gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Elections in Ukraine were due in March 2024 but have been postponed under the imposition of martial law since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. About 20 percent of the country is under occupation.
Fresh elections were included in the draft US plan to end the war.
He also reiterated claims about Zelensky having not read the US plan. “It would be nice if he would read it. You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump said.
Top US negotiators met Putin in Moscow last week, then held days of negotiations with Ukrainian officials, but there has been no apparent breakthrough.
Zelensky said on Tuesday in response to Trump’s comments that he was “ready for the elections” if security was ensured.
He said he hoped to send Ukraine’s updated version of the US plan on Wednesday.
By AFP
December 9, 2025
US President Donald Trump said there were some 'stupid' leaders in Europe
- Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Danny KEMP
President Donald Trump blasted Europe as “decaying” and “weak” on immigration and Ukraine in an interview published Tuesday, deepening a rift between the United States and some of its oldest allies.
Speaking to Politico, Trump also called on war-battered Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to hold elections despite Russia’s invasion and said that Moscow had the “upper hand.”
Trump’s comments doubled down on extraordinary criticism of top US partners in his administration’s new national security strategy last week, which recycled far-right tropes about civilizational “erasure” in Europe.
“Most European nations, they’re decaying,” Trump told Politico in the interview, conducted Monday.
The 79-year-old billionaire, whose political rise to power was built on inflammatory language about migrants, said that Europe’s policies on migrants were a “disaster.”
“They want to be politically correct, and it makes them weak. That’s what makes them weak,” Trump said, adding that there were “some real stupid ones” among Europe’s leaders.
Trump also criticized European nations over Ukraine, amid growing differences over a US plan to end the war that many in Europe fear will force Kyiv to hand over territory to Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.
“NATO calls me daddy,” Trump said, referring to comments by the military alliance’s leader Mark Rutte at a summit in June when leaders backed Trump’s call to raise defense spending.
But he added: “They talk but they don’t produce. And the war just keeps going on and on.”
European leaders have been trying to woo Trump since his return to office in January, especially on maintaining US support for Ukraine against Russia.
Trump’s interview will intensify the alarm in European capitals sparked by the US security strategy last week, with its calls for “cultivating resistance” in Europe on migration and warnings of so-called “civilizational erasure.”
Experts have said parts of it echo elements of the “great replacement theory” promoted by the far-right — and Trump’s former ally Elon Musk — which alleges a conspiracy to replace white populations.
– ‘Not a democracy anymore’ –
In contrast to the savaging of close US allies, Russia and China got off relatively lightly in the US strategy. The Kremlin said the US document aligned with its own worldview.
A French minister, Alice Rufo, said Tuesday that the US security strategy was an “extremely brutal clarification of the ideological stance of the United States.”
In his Politico interview, Trump said countries including Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Sweden were being “destroyed” by migration.
He also launched a new attack on “horrible, vicious, disgusting” Sadiq Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor. Khan told Politico that Trump was “obsessed” with him and said US citizens were “flocking” to live in London.
Trump also had sharp words for Ukraine and for Zelensky, in his latest seesaw in relations with the leader whom he called a “dictator without elections” in January and then berated in the Oval Office in February.
“I think it’s an important time to hold an election. They’re using war not to hold an election.” Trump said. “It gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Elections in Ukraine were due in March 2024 but have been postponed under the imposition of martial law since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. About 20 percent of the country is under occupation.
Fresh elections were included in the draft US plan to end the war.
He also reiterated claims about Zelensky having not read the US plan. “It would be nice if he would read it. You know, a lot of people are dying,” Trump said.
Top US negotiators met Putin in Moscow last week, then held days of negotiations with Ukrainian officials, but there has been no apparent breakthrough.
Zelensky said on Tuesday in response to Trump’s comments that he was “ready for the elections” if security was ensured.
He said he hoped to send Ukraine’s updated version of the US plan on Wednesday.
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