Trump Doubles Down

The Democratic landslide ends the Trump era, but US President Donald Trump digs in for two more years and promoted his ideological “enforcer,” Stephen Miller, as White House Chief of Staff. The California ultra-rightwing lawyer and speechwriter is the architect of Trump’s most controversial policies, from violent deportations to bullying Europe and Ukraine, an attempt to acquire Greenland, and military assaults on Latin America.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. In 2025, Miller applauded Trump’s gang-up against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and supported the war against Iran. He also blamed Ukraine for prolonging Russia’s war by refusing concessions. On Nov. 6, he got his huge promotion, and the next day Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy and announced that a “big, beautiful agreement” to end the war was nigh. But it was bunk. A Putin spokesman responded that his leader had “no details” about any “big, beautiful agreement.” No agreement existed, only a list of proposals about Europe’s future security measures compiled at a recent conference chaired by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Trump’s claim that a deal had been reached was simply posturing by a president trying to distort the narrative following his humiliating ballot-box defeat, as well as his failure to stop the Ukraine war in 2025 after saying he could within 24 hours. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Drone Forces Shift to Starlink Alternative for Comms to Hit Russia Reports say Ukraine’s drone pilots may still be testing the Israeli-Italian tech competing with SpaceX – but in the past 10 days a lot of Russian oil refineries have been torched. Miller’s appointment signals that nothing’s been learned, and it will be business as usual in Iran, Cuba, and Ukraine. Democrat House leader Hakeem Jeffries minced no words about Miller: “He’s a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands. His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor.” A summit with Putin looms on Nov. 11 and 12. Fortunately, control of Congress by the Democrats improves Ukraine’s chances of getting more weapons and more leverage in peace talks. And Europe realizes that it must make sure Ukraine can afford to say no to a bad deal and is doing so now by keeping Kyiv financed and armed. Europe is also demanding that security commitments and sanctions be part of any deal. However, Trump is not taking advantage of the fact that Putin is running out of money and manpower by using sanctions as leverage. Instead, Trump continues to be outplayed by Putin. For instance, the boast about a “big, beautiful agreement” was foolish and inaccurate; then Putin’s response made it worse – that he knew nothing about it. Putin’s strategy is simple: To insult, stonewall, demand the impossible, stall until the other side gives up, use talks to gain tactical advantages, and shift blame to the West for any breakdown (in Russia, this is known as the “Gromyko Method,” named after a successful former Soviet Foreign Minister). Meanwhile, the US, Ukraine, and Russia will hold another summit in Abu Dhabi, the first since February. The winter summit failed for the same reasons this one will: Russia rejects a ceasefire along current battle lines, refuses to compromise on its maximalist territorial demands; and Trump not only refuses to impose sledgehammer sanctions on Russian energy but instead buys tons of Russian diesel to reduce high pump prices in the US caused by his own war in Iran. Putin is losing; he’s bluffing, and Trump doesn’t call the bluff despite the facts: The Economist pointed out recently that Putin knows time is running out and will be weighing whether to make a deal with a more pliant and inept Trump, who relies diplomatically on an inexperienced son-in-law and business partner as negotiators. For two years, Trump has done nothing to advance peace, and the Russians have snubbed their noses. Numerous ceasefires have been proposed during talks, but Russians have violated every one within 24 hours without consequence. There’s no coordination among allies, and one diplomat even speculated that the Trump team may have recently agreed to a Russian demand to shrink NATO to its pre-1997 posture, identical to before the alliance expanded into Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. “Since when does Russia get a say in the future of NATO and undoing the eastern flank?” questioned an expert. Unfortunately, in democracies, history is written by vote winners, not by its smartest. A gullible US president without geopolitical or historical expertise is not capable of dealing with a ruthless mafia state called Russia. He fails to comprehend that Ukraine and its military have done the world a favor by degrading Putin’s military to defend themselves and Europe from catastrophe and reoccupation, not the US or NATO. They deserve plaudits, not brickbats from the likes of Miller, who applauded Trump and Vice President JD Vance for beating up Zelensky in the Oval Office. He told a newspaper later: “The way that President Trump defended Americans after YEARS of being fleeced and abused and taken advantage of and taken for granted – millions of American hearts swelled with overflowing pride today to watch President Trump put Zelensky in his place.” Such bigotry and ignorance are why Nov. 11 – the Armistice Day that ended World War I – will come and go this year without ending the World War III that Putin perpetrates all over the world. This lapse in leadership by America will prove to be, historically speaking, unacceptable, immoral, and terminal for millions. The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post. Diane FrancisDiane Francis is an award-winning columnist, bestselling author, investigative journalist, and television commentator. She writes twice weekly at https://dianefrancis.substack.com/ and is Editor at Large with the National Post and Postmedia newspapers writing twice weekly. She is Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Eurasia section, in Washington DC. She has written pieces for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Daily Beast, Politico, Miami Herald and the New York Post. In addition she is a Distinguished Professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management and has been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. In 1991, she became Editor of Canada's Financial Post, the first woman editor of a national daily newspaper in Canada, a position she held until the paper was sold in 1998.