U.S. President Donald Trump is currently in a weak position and effectively lacks sufficient leverage to pressure Russia, China or Ukraine, according to Ukrainian military analyst Mykhailo Samus.
Samus said Trump’s position has been weakened, in particular, by the Iran campaign. He also argued that Trump no longer has the “cards” he has repeatedly referred to when discussing his ability to pressure other countries.
“Trump is in a very weak position because of the Iran campaign and the complete absence of any cards, as he likes to say, to pressure China, Russia or Ukraine. He simply cannot exert that pressure,” the analyst said.
As one example, Samus pointed to Trump’s statement that Ukraine should not strike Russian diesel fuel supplies. He noted that Ukrainian strikes continued despite those remarks.
“Remember, he said Ukraine should not strike diesel fuel, but Ukraine continues to do so. What does that mean? In reality, Trump currently has no influence, or has very little influence, over anyone except Melania Trump, perhaps — and even that I doubt,” Samus said.
In the military analyst’s view, Trump’s current ability to influence decisions in Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing is therefore significantly limited, despite his public statements about his ability to pressure the parties.
