An enjoyable article. Perhaps Mr. Trump should read Sir Winston Churchill's "The Second World War" and "The World Crisis." (Churchill's account of World War I.) "The Story of the Malakand Field Force" by Churchill describing the British Army fighting in the North-west frontier of India in 1897 is interesting too. (Just the rambling thoughts of an old sailor. )
Outstanding insight in a nutshell. The unfortunate aspect of this discussion is that in my opinion, there is an unbelievable ignorance of, and interest in history. This has been a detriment to the greater population of the U.S. in taking world events seriously enough to see them in the light of history.
Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding of US-Russia relations since 1945 has always been apparent. Clearly, he doesn’t understand that while we may have been a Soviet ally, the USSR was not allied with us. Stalin cooperated begrudgingly with us and the British but only where it served his interests. The Cold War never really ended but was merely paused. The lessons of 1945 to 1991 seem to have been lost in DC.
Of course, three other Presidents in this century have made the mistake of trying to deal with Putin as a friend rather than a malicious and potentially dangerous adversary. This is a dangerous flaw in US foreign policy.
Amen to all that. Fundamentally I don’t think one can see any of Trump’s beliefs as being founded on inaccurate information which, once corrected, will lead to his revision of his view. That doesn’t seem to be how his mind works.
And the US-UK-USSR relationship was always very transactional. When President Truman revealed the sketchiest outlines of the atomic bomb to Stalin at Potsdam, he couldn’t understand why Stalin’s reaction was so low-key and uninterested. But Stalin already knew, and had been fully briefed based on reports from Soviet sources in the Manhattan Project.
One of General McMaster’s admirable traits is that, while clearly bruised from having to deal with some of the morons in Trump’s orbit, he maintains a certain fundamental reverence for the President himself. E.g., McMaster calls out Tucker Carlsen’s loonie view of Russia as a bastion of Western Civilization, while never exactly saying he believes Trump shares this view. Perhaps it is old fashioned respect for the office.
But then to what does McMaster actually ascribe the President’s belief that Putin’s Russia is a natural ally? I lack anything close to McMaster’s vantage point, but given Trump’s transactional nature perhaps he sees Putin’s Russia as a natural ally when it comes to the structure of global energy trade, a market opportunity for US heavy manufacturing know how, and no threat whatsoever to (his perception of) US security or economic interests.
“ President Trump could have opened by talking about trade. He could have discussed the wars in the Middle East or the long-running, brutal war in Ukraine.
But there was something else that appeared to be top of mind for Mr. Trump during Monday’s meeting in Canada of the leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations: President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
“The G7 used to be the G8,” Mr. Trump told reporters, referring to the group’s decision to eject Russia in 2014, after it attacked Ukraine and “annexed” Crimea, a prelude to its full-scale invasion….
…” I would say that was a mistake,” Mr. Trump said, “because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now.”
And with that, Mr. Trump’s troubled history with the alliance repeated itself. When he attended the summit the last time it was held in Canada, in 2018, he called for Russia to be readmitted to alliance. The suggestion angered and appalled allies, setting of a rift that before Mr. Trump left the summit early, telling reporters on his way out: “They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”
Mr. Trump’s remarks came one day before he was supposed to meet in Canada with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized for the invasion of his country and has even accused of not wanting the war to end.
The White House announced on Monday that Mr. Trump would leave the summit early and return to Washington to deal with the war between Israel and Iran. In a recent interview, Mr. Trump said he was open to having Mr. Putin serve as a mediator in the Middle East conflict.”
An enjoyable article. Perhaps Mr. Trump should read Sir Winston Churchill's "The Second World War" and "The World Crisis." (Churchill's account of World War I.) "The Story of the Malakand Field Force" by Churchill describing the British Army fighting in the North-west frontier of India in 1897 is interesting too. (Just the rambling thoughts of an old sailor. )
“Any stick to beat a dog,” a vile analogy by Churchill about the USSR.
Exactly. Thansk again, HR McMaster!
How is it possible that Trump has persisted all this time without learning even rudimentary Russian history???
Unimpressive and unpersuadive.
In all seriousness, the time for you to make your case about anything was before this election.
You Sir, are an enabler. And it pains me to say that to anyone that wore the uniform with distinction as you did.
If there’s any hope for America moving forward, it will be the judiciary and our armed forces refusing to capitulate to Trump’s authoritarian whims.
Anyone paying attention no longer expects you to join their ranks. I pray I’m wrong. Perhaps you should too.
I have never written or said anything remotely like this to any veteran, let alone one of your status.
But the urgency of this time requires it of ALL OF US.
Outstanding article! Hopefully this will get the attention it deserves.
Thank you, Sir! Excellent analysis and a good read!
reliably churning out war propaganda for the deep state
Trump has a very limited and highly skewed knowledge of history. The word is that DT has been laundering Russian
money through his real estate business
for decades.
Outstanding insight in a nutshell. The unfortunate aspect of this discussion is that in my opinion, there is an unbelievable ignorance of, and interest in history. This has been a detriment to the greater population of the U.S. in taking world events seriously enough to see them in the light of history.
Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding of US-Russia relations since 1945 has always been apparent. Clearly, he doesn’t understand that while we may have been a Soviet ally, the USSR was not allied with us. Stalin cooperated begrudgingly with us and the British but only where it served his interests. The Cold War never really ended but was merely paused. The lessons of 1945 to 1991 seem to have been lost in DC.
Of course, three other Presidents in this century have made the mistake of trying to deal with Putin as a friend rather than a malicious and potentially dangerous adversary. This is a dangerous flaw in US foreign policy.
Amen to all that. Fundamentally I don’t think one can see any of Trump’s beliefs as being founded on inaccurate information which, once corrected, will lead to his revision of his view. That doesn’t seem to be how his mind works.
And the US-UK-USSR relationship was always very transactional. When President Truman revealed the sketchiest outlines of the atomic bomb to Stalin at Potsdam, he couldn’t understand why Stalin’s reaction was so low-key and uninterested. But Stalin already knew, and had been fully briefed based on reports from Soviet sources in the Manhattan Project.
Phenomenal… I wonder if COL(R) MacGregor will read and agree! VR —- COL(R) Brian Cook
One of General McMaster’s admirable traits is that, while clearly bruised from having to deal with some of the morons in Trump’s orbit, he maintains a certain fundamental reverence for the President himself. E.g., McMaster calls out Tucker Carlsen’s loonie view of Russia as a bastion of Western Civilization, while never exactly saying he believes Trump shares this view. Perhaps it is old fashioned respect for the office.
But then to what does McMaster actually ascribe the President’s belief that Putin’s Russia is a natural ally? I lack anything close to McMaster’s vantage point, but given Trump’s transactional nature perhaps he sees Putin’s Russia as a natural ally when it comes to the structure of global energy trade, a market opportunity for US heavy manufacturing know how, and no threat whatsoever to (his perception of) US security or economic interests.
So how do you explain this:
“Trump Renews Embrace of Putin Amid Ongoing Rift With Allies
President Trump opened his remarks at the Group of 7 gathering of industrialized nations by criticizing the decision to expel Russia from the bloc after Moscow’s 2014 “annexation” of Crimea.”, NYT, June 16, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/world/canada/trump-g7-russia-ukraine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
“ President Trump could have opened by talking about trade. He could have discussed the wars in the Middle East or the long-running, brutal war in Ukraine.
But there was something else that appeared to be top of mind for Mr. Trump during Monday’s meeting in Canada of the leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized nations: President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
“The G7 used to be the G8,” Mr. Trump told reporters, referring to the group’s decision to eject Russia in 2014, after it attacked Ukraine and “annexed” Crimea, a prelude to its full-scale invasion….
…” I would say that was a mistake,” Mr. Trump said, “because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now.”
And with that, Mr. Trump’s troubled history with the alliance repeated itself. When he attended the summit the last time it was held in Canada, in 2018, he called for Russia to be readmitted to alliance. The suggestion angered and appalled allies, setting of a rift that before Mr. Trump left the summit early, telling reporters on his way out: “They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.”
Mr. Trump’s remarks came one day before he was supposed to meet in Canada with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized for the invasion of his country and has even accused of not wanting the war to end.
The White House announced on Monday that Mr. Trump would leave the summit early and return to Washington to deal with the war between Israel and Iran. In a recent interview, Mr. Trump said he was open to having Mr. Putin serve as a mediator in the Middle East conflict.”