JD Vance, Putin Sympathizer, Tries to Get Ukraine to Surrender
Trump's authoritarianism is personalist, but his vice president appears to be a genuine far right ideologue
Marco Rubio is the only American other than Henry Kissinger to serve as secretary of state and national security advisor at the same time, but he was mostly absent from high-stakes diplomacy over Ukraine.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff negotiated the recent, Russia-friendly 28-point plan to end the war, and its main advocate in the White House was Vice President JD Vance. Working to help Russia win aligns with Vance’s far-right worldview, and with Trump an aging president who has never prioritized policy, the VP’s views will remain influential.
Trump officials reportedly timed this effort to a domestic corruption scandal in Ukraine, thinking it would force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to swallow unfavorable terms. But instead of sending Rubio or another State Department official, the Trump administration had U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Vance’s friend and classmate at Yale Law, deliver the plan to Ukraine as an ultimatum.
It didn’t work. When the details came out, European countries were appalled, and with their support, Ukraine responded with a reasonable counteroffer that Russia unsurprisingly rejected because Putin seeks conquest, not peace. Rubio reportedly scrambled to say it was a Russian wishlist the U.S. was factoring in, not an American proposal, before getting roped back in and saying it was a U.S. plan after all. Evidence emerged that Witkoff basically repackaged a Russia-written plan, evencoaching the Russians on how to talk to Trump and undermine upcoming U.S. meetings with Zelensky, and the effort fell apart.
But Vance will likely keep searching for ways to get Ukraine to surrender because…
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