Why Trump still has a grand plan to solve the Ukraine crisis even after booting Zelensky

Donald Trump booted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the White House on Friday, after the president engaged in a verbal sparring match, on national TV, with the US commander in chief and Vice President J.D.Vance.

During the meeting, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War III” and later wrote on Truth Social that Zelensky “disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office.”Prior to meeting with Zelensky, Trump met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following face-time with French President Emmanuel Macron, over the past week, as he worked toward fulfilling a key campaign promise to end the Russia-Ukraine war.The gatherings unfolded against a backdrop of nearly 200 drones launched by Russia at Ukraine.Friday’s White House meeting will do little to reassure either European leaders or Zelensky — whom Trump publicly accused last week of being a “Dictator without Elections” — worried that Trump is surrendering Ukraine to Putin.

After all, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, during his visit last month to Brussels and Munich, ruled out Ukraine returning to its prewar borders — along with membership in NATO, and the deployment of US troops to its territory. Many on both sides of the Atlantic are questioning Trump’s strategy.What kind of “Art of the Deal” is he playing here, seemingly handing victory to the Russian former KGB operative who has waged the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II? Hold your fire. Trump — as Trump does — is thinking big.

“If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big,” said the author of the book “The Art of the Deal” when it debuted back in 1987.Here’s the strategic game that the commander in chief is likely playing.First and foremost, Trump wants to cut US losses in Ukraine, which he worries could easily turn into another Afghanistan — at least price-tag wise.Some $2.2 trillion was spent during America’s 20-year Afghanistan...