Nikita Shenderovsky13:56, 19.10.26

Trump’s latest actions have sparked a rare moment of bipartisan outrage in the United States.

Over the past week, the president of the United States has definitively turned America into an ally of the Russian Federation, writes Tom Nichols, a staff columnist for The Atlantic.

The author notes that the US president has stopped hiding his direct support for the Kremlin in the war against Ukraine. And he does this not out of cold calculation of US national needs, but in his own interests – from open admiration for the Russian dictator to outright hostility to the democratically elected president of Ukraine.

The journalist writes that Trump has effectively used his opportunity not to impose sanctions against Russia, named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham. The US president explained this by saying that it is currently “in the interests of the United States”, but did not explain in what way. This, and other recent actions by Trump in support of Russia, are so obvious that they have caused a rare moment of bipartisan outrage from both Democrats and Republicans.

“The president’s aides are rushing to explain why this capitulation to Russia is not what it seems. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pressed by a reporter, said the administration would “assess” the impact of the Graham Act in 60 days. This was nonsense: there is no such timeframe in the executive order, and no one seriously believes that the administration is doing the math to decide whether sanctions are a good idea,” Nichols notes.

He adds that few among the American right-wing elite support these US steps, as such actions have nothing to do with Washington’s national security. Instead, the author calls the US-Russia alliance a “dirty deal” that pursues the goals of the American president.

In particular, according to Nichols, Trump is already aware of the upcoming defeat of the Republicans in the US elections. And one of the reasons for this is the jump in fuel prices caused by the war in Iran. The author writes:

“He is willing to do anything to lower gasoline prices. And since he doesn’t seem to understand how the international economy works, he may well believe that some dubious deal with Russia on diesel fuel will alleviate the problem of high fuel prices in the United States. That won’t help, although some Russian companies will certainly benefit from it.”

He adds that even if the situation in the American economy were better, Trump would hardly try to increase pressure on Putin, since the American president admires the Russian dictator.

In addition, the author notes, Trump resorts to personalized diplomacy because he considers himself a master of deal-making. However, in practice, this does not correspond to reality. In addition, according to the author, Trump has a direct antipathy towards Ukrainian President Zelensky. Nichols notes:

“It seems to him that Zelensky is a loser, a nobody, someone who creates unnecessary problems for his friend Vladimir (Putin, – UNIAN). The American president cannot understand why Zelensky and his people will simply not accept their situation and submit to Russia.”

Against this background, the author writes, Ukraine’s fate in the near future depends on Europe’s support. Until now, a world in which the White House is an ally of the Kremlin seemed like only a paranoid fantasy. However, now this alliance already exists.

(C)UNIAN 2026