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Trump Threatens Russia With More Sanctions If No Ceasefire Negotiation With Ukraine

By Robert Romano

“Sounds likely.”

That was President Donald Trump’s response to a question from a reporter at his first White House press conference on Jan. 21 since returning to office about if there would be additional sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not negotiate for a ceasefire with Ukraine, “You called for a ceasefire in Ukraine. If Vladimir Putin doesn’t come to the table to negotiate with you, will you put additional sanctions on Russia?”

President Trump’s retention of leverage, in this case with more threatened sanctions against Russia, is not very surprising given his desire to keep his campaign promise to fight for a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine that has seen hundreds of thousands of deaths and threatens a wider regional conflict or even world war if it is not resolved.

When asked if Trump would keep sending weapons to Ukraine, Trump kept his options open, stating, “we’ll look into that. We’re talking to Zelensky. We’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon. And we’ll see how it all happens. We’re going to look at it very soon.”

Similarly, here Trump is retaining the right to withhold U.S. weapons from Ukraine in order to create further incentives for both sides to come to the table. This is also not very surprising.

This is vintage Trump and his art of the deal, quite similar to his approach with tariffs with other countries, either in levying them or threatening to levy them in order to draw trade partners to the table to negotiate a better deal.

From the U.S. perspective, both Russia and Ukraine want things the U.S. can provide, whether fewer sanctions or more weapons and protection, respectively. All of those are chips to use in the negotiation and so naturally Trump won’t give either of them away for free.

Similarly, both parties have expressed an interest in peace talks but differ drastically in goals — Ukraine wants to join NATO to deter Russian aggression, and Russia’s invasion was designed to make that impossible without triggering World War III — so Trump is kicking off his own desire to start the talking by stating his own intentions to initiate the talks directly, and importantly, increasing the incentives for the parties to take his call.

The news comes as Trump has tasked retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg with getting a deal done within 100 days, according to a Jan. 22 report by the Wall Street Journal.

In the 2024 campaign, ending the ongoing war was a key issue for Trump, which he has warned could result in a nuclear war. That’s also an incentive for both parties not to seek to drag the U.S. into active involvement in the theater, for example, by Russia expanding the war to NATO countries or on the other side by putting U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine.

The question is whether all that is enough to create a path for de-escalation.  

For the parties, at the press conference, Trump reminded both Russia and Ukraine that the costs of the war are devastating, stating, “Russia’s lost about 800,000 soldiers now. Ukraine’s lost about 600,000 or 700,000. I think the numbers are low that they’re giving out. But they’ve lost massive numbers of young soldiers. And that war should stop.”

Trump added, “You know, it’s beautiful farmland, and it’s flat and really beautiful in a different kind of way, but they don’t have any protection. The only thing that stops a bullet is a body, and those bodies are stopping a lot of bullets, and they’re getting, they’re being decimated. Both sides.”

It might not be much of an incentive—both sides appear determined to fight—but the costs of war are still very high, and a part of any negotiation will be weighing those costs versus the benefits of alternatives including a ceasefire or broader peace agreement. Undoubtedly, that would mean both parties would have to make concessions.

At his inaugural address on Jan. 20, Trump said he wants to be a peacemaker, stating, “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”

It’s quite an undertaking, but to increase his odds for success, Trump is putting everything on the table to get both parties to come to the table. The real question might be whether they really want to talk.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/01/trump-threatens-russia-with-more-sanctions-if-no-ceasefire-negotiation-with-ukraine/

Cartoon: Left In The Lurch

By A.F. Branco

Click here for a higher level resolution version.

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/01/cartoon-left-in-the-lurch/

Propaganda Tools Are in High Gear

By Bill Wilson

As the day of Donald Trump’s – and America’s – redemption neared, every arm of the propaganda machine built by the Deep-Permanent State went into high gear. Two examples are good instructors for all citizens to be able to spot the work of the elite enemies of the American Dream. They are perfect examples of how those about to lose control of our country will fight to the end to keep the power and control they have illegitimately amassed over the decades since the end of World War II.

First, on Friday Jan. 17, as the nation and Washington, D.C. prepared for what was to be a joyous and historic Inaugural of the 47^th President, the Washington Post ran a front-page gut-slash of the Trump selection to head the FBI, Kash Patel. Under the ominous headline, “Patel’s peers dial up alarm on fitness,” the article goes into a series of undefined charges, innuendo and outright fact-manipulation to paint the narrative that somehow Mr. Patel is unfit for the office; or any polite society for that matter.

While most of those making the slurs go unnamed, the one that stands out and is given the most ink is Charles Kupperman. Kupperman is described as the former deputy national security advisor in the first Trump Administration. And, that of course, would tend to give his views credibility. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Kupperman is in fact well credentialed. As a good and thoughtful drooge of the elitist regime, Kupperman had checked all the boxes of educational certification and resume enhancements. But his single most important item in his background was his slavish devotion to the High Priest of Neo-Con warmongering, John Bolton.  Kupperman followed Bolton wherever he went in the think-tank world of Washington. And when – beyond all comprehension – President Trump appointed Bolton his National Security Advisor – Kupperman followed him into the White House. A few months later when the President realized he had been sold a bill of goods and fired Bolton, Kupperman assumed the post while a more suitable replacement was found. That is how he “earned” his Trump bona fides. 

So, propaganda lesson #1 for today – take an avowed enemy of all MAGA stands for who was able to pad his resume with a few months in a position inside the Administration and treat that person like an unimpeachable source for your goal. And the goal in this case was to hurt or destroy Kash Patel.  Actually, to be opposed by the uni-party hack Kupperman is a very strong endorsement for Mr. Patel’s confirmation. 

The deep state is not just interested in harming or stopping President Trump’s appointments, they are very much working to keep their rancid, destructive policies in place as well.  That brings us to our second example. When all else fails, use unnamed, sources attributed to the Trump team itself to advocate for policies that are diametrically opposed to the MAGA stance. This is lesson #2 for today.

Over the weekend, most legacy media reported on the cease-fire between Hamas operating in the Gaza strip and Israel. Buried in the story is an assertion from some anonymous “Trump transition official” that the United States was going to be deeply involved in yet another “nation building” exercise – the same wasteful, harmful delusion first push by President George Bush that crashed in utter failure in Iraqi and Afghanistan. 

As Daniel Greenfield so aptly described the situation in Front Page Magazine: “We’re getting all sorts of leaks to the media by people supposedly on the Trump team blasting Israel and propping up Islamic terrorists in Gaza and Lebanon. A basic question is who is this unnamed ‘transition official’ laying out an elaborate agenda … who sounds more like an Obama or Biden official… What kind of Trump transition-official rants about the ‘right-wing of the Israeli side.  And pushes nation-building in Gaza.’”

The answer is some quisling hack pushed policies at total odds with that of Trump and his team while pretending it is coming from them. This is the ultimate bait and switch play. If it hadn’t worked countless times before the deep state wouldn’t be using it now.

Both of these examples show beyond any shadow of a doubt that the enemies of American freedom and the MAGA movement will use every trick in the book. Those patriots who are praying for the President to succeed need to keep a watchful eye for these and other bogus claims designed to undercut the reform agenda. As a start, if it comes from the legacy-corporate media, it is not to be trusted. There will be many more examples in the days ahead. Forewarned is truly forearmed.

Bill Wilson is the former president of Americans for Limited Government.

To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2025/01/propaganda-tools-are-in-high-gear/