The Cosmopolitics Edit: Putin BS edition

Also: State Department purge, Trump's tariff blitz and Netanyahu's endless war

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Trump's pivot away from Putin

"We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin," Trump declared this week, his exasperation cutting through months of diplomatic niceties. For a president who just recently called the Russian leader "very kind," this wasn't just a mood swing—it was a collision with geopolitical reality that's been brewing since inauguration day.

In February I wrote about Trump’s pivot to Putin. That honeymoon appears officially over. After promising to end the war in 24 hours, we're now 4,000 hours in, and Putin has responded to Trump's peace overtures by launching the largest drone assault of the conflict just hours after their latest phone call. It’s pretty clear Moscow isn't interested in Trump's dealmaking theatrics, and timing these attacks to humiliate the American president seems to be part of the strategy. This time the self-proclaimed “ultimate dealmaker” has met someone who simply isn't interested in making deals—at least not on terms that look anything like winning for America.

What's remarkable isn't just Trump's wounded pride, but how this frustration is reshaping American policy in real time. The president, who initially blamed Ukraine for "starting the war" and called Zelensky a "dictator without elections" is now promising additional Patriot systems and threatening 500% tariffs on countries buying Russian energy. Trump is teasing a “major statement” on Russia Monday and is meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about what he told NBC News is a deal sell NATO allies weapons that it can pass on to Ukraine.

That's not policy evolution—that's whiplash. After all, this is the same president who voted against a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression just weeks ago.

Let’s not forget Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's made a unilateral decision to halt weapons shipments—apparently without informing the White House, State Department, or even Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg. Trump's repeated "I don't know" when asked about the pause.

The deeper irony here cuts to the heart of Trump's worldview. His "America First" approach assumed Putin would come to the table like any other business partner seeking mutual benefit. Instead, he encountered a master strategist who views American political cycles as mere tactical opportunities and Trump's eagerness to deal as weakness to exploit.

Putin's calculation appears coldly rational: why negotiate when you can wait out an administration that changes course based on presidential mood swings? Trump's transactional diplomacy works when both sides want a deal. It falls apart when your counterpart sees the negotiation itself as victory.

What happens in Ukraine next reveals whether this shift represents genuine strategic recalibration or just another Trump tantrum that can be soothed by a gesture by Putin, who is now pressuring Iran toward a nuclear deal with the United States that has zero enrichment of uranium. This reveals the master manipulator recalibrating in real time—apparently deciding that keeping Trump happy matters more than rewarding Tehran's assistance with drones that prop up his Ukraine war effort.

The president who built his brand on unpredictability is discovering that Putin wrote the playbook on keeping adversaries guessing.