Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin, the man who put a bounty on American soldiers in Afghanistan. He clapped as Putin walked toward him. He had a flyover to honor Putin. Is this how a person starts a negotiation, or is this a way a salesman tries to sell a house? The way Trump greeted Putin did not appear to be that of a person who wanted to negotiate, and he sure didn’t look presidential at all. He looked more like a salesman greeting a man whom he was trying to sell a timeshare to.  That made sense to me after I gave it some thought. The United States has a man in the White House who didn’t negotiate business deals; he built and sold real estate.

Is solo diplomacy bold or reckless? I don’t think that it is either. What I think is that it is another case of grandstanding by Trump to bring more attention to himself. It just may be another attempt to distract the world from the Epstein scandal. Where was Ukraine when Trump was trying to negotiate Ukraine's future? I would think if serious negotiations were being held, Zelensky would be there. How about the rest of Europe, our allies? Any peace accord would affect them more than it would affect the United States. If I were them, I would have been very pissed and more suspicious of Trump trying to sell them down the river. To me, it looked like Trump came solo and alone because he was not prepared. He never trained for this type of negotiating. Putin was not some contractor that he could bully. Putin is not someone that you can shmooze. Putin is a former member of the KGB and runs Russia like the tyrant that he is. Trump won’t be able to sway that man with a smile, flattery, and a flowery dog and pony show like Trump is. I think Putin would think of that as a sign of weakness. I was not surprised that Trump didn’t accomplish a thing.

Read up about the Camp David Accords negotiated by Jimmy Carter. There was so much animosity between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat that they stayed in separate cabins, and Carter would shuffle between the cabins.  The Camp David negotiations lasted 13 days. I don’t think that Trump has the attention span to work that hard for 13 days to come to an agreement on anything. In fact, in my opinion, Trump is the laziest President in my lifetime. Carter worked his butt off for that peace accord, and because of Carter's work, Begin and Sadat shared the Nobel Peace Prize, not Carter. Yes, Carter did eventually receive a Peace Prize, but not for the Camp David Accords. He received his award in 2002, over 20 years after he left office, for his work promoting peace and all the humanitarian efforts he undertook worldwide. Work that he continued until his death.

Two days after meeting with Putin, Trump met with Zelenskyy. This time, Zelenskyy didn’t come alone. This time, he came with many of the other European leaders. Trump, who was pushing for a ceasefire before his meeting in Alaska,  changed his tune after meeting with Putin. He stated to the European delegation, “I don’t think we need a ceasefire. I like the concept because you stop killing people immediately, but I understand why one side wouldn’t want it.” To me, it looks like Trump is defending Putin's position to the European leaders. Of course, the European leaders pushed back, stating that a ceasefire is essential before negotiations with Russia can proceed. Trump pledged “very good protection, very good security” for Ukraine as part of the peace settlement, but of course gave no specifics. Trump expressed interest in organizing a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy and Putin, saying: “I think it’s going to be when, not if.” Zelenskyy, of course, said Ukraine was ready for such talks to begin, but European leaders remain wary of concessions being made too quickly. Let's face it, Russia is more of a threat to Europe than it is to the United States, and Russia telling Ukraine that it can’t be part of NATO is asking Ukraine to give up some of its sovereignty. Trump wants Ukraine to concede territory to Russia, which to me is completely wrong and would expose Europe to more aggression from Russia for territory and expansion.

I don’t care what type of meeting Trump is leading; I just don’t think he comes prepared, and he embarrasses not only himself but the country. Trump's flip-flop on the ceasefire was one of those signs he wasn’t prepared, and he was just making it up as he went along. Trump wanting Ukraine to give up Crimea and drop its bid for NATO is just caving in to Putin's demands and not wanting to put in the work that real diplomats like Carter or even Henry Kissinger would. Israel had to give up the Sinai that it captured from Egypt to obtain peace. Trump just doesn’t look like a strong leader when he wants Ukraine to give up territory to appease Russia. Trump is proof that bullies make terrible negotiators.  Appeasement to a dictator hasn’t worked in the past, and I don’t think that it will work now. Just ask Europe how Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler worked out for them. Trump has to show he is serious and is working from a position of strength alongside a unified front with our European allies.

For Trump to make the statement that if we are at war three and a half years from now, there would be no elections is just bizarre and not an appropriate thing to say in such a setting. We have held elections before and during wartime, and I bet most everyone in the room knew that. There was also a time were he just rambled about how the White House was special, no matter where you are from. It wasn’t offensive, but it was just another one of those moments when he began talking without a clear point to make for the purpose that they were there for. Republicans love to call this Biden’s war, but Biden didn’t invade Ukraine. The Republicans also tried to handcuff everything that Biden wanted to do to help Ukraine. Trump campaigned on the fact that he could end this war in one day. Not doing so makes this more Trump’s war than Biden's