Two days after Russia’s war in Ukraine began, Donald Trump said there were “things” President Joe Biden could do to end the crisis “pretty quickly,” but the former president did not elaborate on what those “things” might entail. At one point, he suggested that the United States could put Chinese flags on our F-22 fighter jets, but this was not an argument to be taken seriously.
Nearly a year later, the Republican’s thoughts on resolving the crisis remain annoyingly vague, though he’s added a new wrinkle: the emergence of a secret plan.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly argued that he knows how to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine “within 24 hours.” He’s even boasted that it would be “easy“ to end the crisis. How? He wouldn’t say.
Last week, the former president sat down with a conservative outlet called the Right Side Broadcasting Network and suggested he has a secret plan that he’s reluctant to share:
“It can be negotiated, I think, within 24 hours. It really has to be done from the office of the president. And you have to get them both in a room and there are things you can say to each one of them, which I won’t reveal now, which will guarantee that this war will end immediately. And they have to do it.”
Sure, Trump could reach out — to the White House, to the State Department, to someone — with details about his secret plan, which we’re supposed to believe exists. But he won’t “reveal” the magic words that would bring an “immediate” end to the bloodshed and devastation.
There’s no need for us to play games here. Trump obviously doesn’t have a secret plan. He also doesn’t have any credibility on the issue, especially after having described Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine as “genius” and “very savvy.”
What makes the former president’s rhetoric stand out, however, is its familiarity.
Nearly eight years ago, for example, Trump claimed he knew exactly what to do to “defeat…
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