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Does Trump really know what’s going on in Ukraine? Former UK diplomat sounds alarm

Published

1 week ago

14 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Frank Wright

Alastair Crooke says the situation in Ukraine is headed for an ‘inevitable escalation’ threatening a far bigger war with the West that Putin is trying to avoid.

What is the Trump administration doing about the Ukraine war? This week President Trump said the Russian leader Putin had “gone crazy” and issued what seemed to be a threat in response to Russian air strikes across Ukraine.

Reports in the Western media of a three-day Russian air assault on Ukraine – launched overnight on Sunday, May 25 – sparked outrage. The condemnation of the attacks was paired with renewed calls from the forever war faction to escalate U.S. involvement – leading to fears of a move towards World War III.

As usual, this media campaign for more war did not include the Russian perspective.

An unprecedented number of drones – over 1,000 – had been launched into Russia by Ukraine. It was reported May 25 that there was even a “large-scale” attempted assassination attack against Putin’s helicopter, involving dozens of Ukrainian drones, while the Russian president was on his way to visit the Kursk region. Putin survived thanks to the successful defensive actions of Russian military protecting the helicopter.

This was one reason for the Russian assault which seemed to have been news even to Donald Trump himself.

“I don’t like what Putin is doing … he’s killing people,” Trump said in a report of May 26. “Something happened to this guy.”

A reporter then tells Trump that a Russian military commander said Putin was targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack.

“I haven’t heard that,” said Trump, adding “maybe that would be a reason” for the Russian response.

Another reason was given by the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 23.

Two days after Trump’s remarks, Russian outlet TASS reported a “massive overnight attack by Ukrainian drones on Russian regions has been repelled,” claiming Russian defenses had downed almost 300 drones targeting 13 regions – including Moscow.

Trump added that Zelensky was not helping the cause of peace.

“He is doing his Country no favors by talking the way he does. Everything out of his mouth causes problems, I don’t like it, and it better stop.”

Does Trump know what is going on?

Speaking to Judge Napolitano, an unusually passionate and alarmed Alastair Crooke, a British former Middle East negotiator, noted how Trump “seemed not to know” that Ukraine had “launched over a thousand drones” and an attempted “assassination of President Putin.”

Crooke warns that Putin and the Russians understandably no longer trust anything that Trump and the Americans say. He tells Napolitano the situation is headed for an “inevitable escalation” threatening a far bigger war with the West, which Putin has been trying to avoid. See the exceptional interview below.

Trump is hypocritical in not telling the exact truth to reporters he openly denounces – as he did here – of being “fake news.”

What can the U.S. do?

Perhaps it is wise to ask what the Trump administration can do. With a new grand strategy of national security through the promotion of world peace, it would appear that all-out war with Russia is off the table.

The bipartisan push for escalation to war is ever-present, however. Whether it is war with Russia or war with Iran, the “neocon” faction constantly urges military action.

Why? The motives of people like Lindsey Graham – who once called for Putin’s assassination – are only partially explained by the capture of the U.S. House and Senate by the Israel lobby.

At base, this is about business. The economics of permanent war is the lifeline of the neocons, and of the European political establishment. If peace breaks out, they are all finished, as their business goes bankrupt as their promotion of war as the “defense of democracy.”

This is not only morally bankrupt, as JD Vance pointed out last May, but the forever wars pursued by Zionist neocons have driven America’s debt to a record $36 trillion high.

Trump’s goal is to change all of that. To do so, the business model of permanent war must go – in order to “make America great again.” Another reason was supplied by Vance last week: the “era of uncontested U.S. dominance” is now over.

It makes no sense to launch a great project to reverse the financially and diplomatically ruinous project of “liberal intervention” and then start a major war which many Western experts not on the military-industrial complex payroll are warning you will not win.

U.S. wars have cost ‘$21 trillion’

Speaking in Saudi Arabia on May 13, Trump derided the so-called “nation builders, neocons, liberal non-profits” who he said “spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, and so many other cities…”

As Newsweek reported, a 2021 study showed “[i]n the 20 years since the September 11 attacks, the United States government has spent more than $21 trillion” on funding the forever wars abroad – and on mass surveillance at home. The bottom line is that the business model of neocon wars has broken America, and Trump says he wants to fix that.

Given that the Russians have not lost in Ukraine, and have not collapsed as the Pentagon hoped they would in 2019, where does this leave the U.S.?

As Alastair Crooke and Col. Douglas Macgregor have pointed out, it leaves the U.S. with “no leverage.”

This means that after sanctions and after arming Ukraine and funding its regime have failed to stop Russia, the Russians will conclude the war on their own terms because they have won it.

So what can Trump do if the stick of further sanctions and arms is useless? Trump has offered the carrot of the inclusion of Russia in a new geopolitical dispensation which replaces conflict with strategic balance and stable trade deals.

Yet Russia has managed – and rather well – to realign the sale of its oil, gas, and other vast mineral resources. Its informal bloc sees it partnered with two other major producer nations – China and Iran. It is the consumer economic model of the West which needs these resources and cheap manufactured goods, which have the rest of the world for an alternative market should it sanction itself from access to them.

Will the U.S. walk away?

Along with the raw military power and industrial production capacity of the Russians, this is a compelling reason for the U.S. to just walk away from Ukraine. Both Trump and Vice President Vance have said the U.S. may do so.

That is the solution offered by Dr. S. Maitra, whose recommendation for a U.S. drawdown from NATO two years ago is now close to being realized. German outlet Handelsblatt warned on Monday that the EU and the UK must prepare for the imminent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe. The U.S. is already walking away from Europe on “defense” – and who pays for it.

Europe is preventing peace, says Lavrov

The search for reasons for the continuing war can be satisfied by noticing the lifeline of funding and arms provided to Ukraine.

The Russians have said that Trump, the “peace president,” promises peace but hypocritically continues to prolong the war with billions more U.S. money, weapons, intelligence, and U.S. special forces in Ukraine and Israel, without which both wars would quickly end. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz responded by lifting range limits on weapons supplied to Ukraine – allowing U.S. and European supplied missiles to hit Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added this week that British and EU leaders were “sabotaging” the peace process. Why? He said in Istanbul on Friday: “President Trump has already said that this is not his war. He is interested in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continuing.”

Lavrov explained, “European leaders are trying to prevent this, because if the war suddenly stops, they will end their political careers in disgrace.”

Lavrov added, “They’ve bet their reputation on dragging Europe into a war against Russia to facilitate the militarization of Europe,” saying “huge sums” of money were being allocated towards that end.

Lavrov’s remarks dispel any mystery over the reasons for prolonging and escalating the Ukraine war. The liberal-globalist leadership of Britain and Europe have invested their political futures in it. The vast economic might of the U.S. war faction relies on the production of wars for its existence.

With around three-fifths of the U.S. national debt of $36 trillion a direct result of its decades of wars it is clear whose money is talking up the need for more war. This is the “democracy” our tax money is defending in Ukraine.

It is the business of monetized death that has a low regard for the sacredness of human life. It is one of the largest and potentially most dangerous results of the modern culture of death that Pope John Paul II constantly warned the world to oppose.

Since NATO intelligence has been embedded in Ukraine it is inconceivable that Trump does not know how U.S. money is being spent – on launching attacks on Russia to provoke a major war.

Trump certainly knows that starting wars is the business of the neocon faction – the whole mission of his MAGA movement can be explained as an attempt to change the U.S. from a war economy with global ambitions. As Crooke points out, Europe knows this, too.

If Trump walks away, Crooke says, the Europeans don’t have the money or the troops to fight the war without him. The Europeans also fear Trump’s alternative “economic model” to the war economy will ruin them. Aside from the fact that they “hate him,” Crooke says, this is the reason they want to destroy him. How?

They want to “push Trump … into an escalation against Russia … to undermine Trump and his program…” he says.

This is an existential moment for the survival of an economic model – whose vast profits have captured the governance of the West. Behind the MAGA hats and talk of democracy’s defense, a battle for the life of the business of death is still being waged – with our taxes.

It would be crazy not to walk away from that and return to spreading a culture of life for the benefit of all mankind.

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“Will Be in History Books”: Zelensky Hails Long-Range Drone Strike That Hit Dozens of Russian Bombers

Published on June 1, 2025

By

Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

“Borderline Insane”: Analyst Warns American Military Must Prepare as Ukraine’s Deep Strike Signals China Could Launch Similar Attacks from U.S. Ports in Event of War Over Taiwan

KYIV — In its most daring covert action of the war, Ukraine says it has destroyed or severely damaged more than 40 Russian long-range strategic aircraft in a meticulously planned drone assault that struck four military airbases deep inside Russian territory. The campaign, known as Operation Spider’s Web, marks a stunning escalation in Ukraine’s asymmetric warfare strategy—and what some analysts are calling a historic reversal that could tilt the odds in peace negotiations against the larger aggressor.

The mission—overseen by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and personally authorized by President Volodymyr Zelensky—reportedly took more than 18 months to prepare. SBU operatives smuggled first-person-view drones into Russia hidden inside wooden mobile cabins mounted on civilian cargo trucks. When activated remotely, the trucks’ roofs opened and the drones launched directly at parked Russian bombers.

“This was our most long-range operation,” Zelensky posted Sunday on X, noting the assault involved only Ukrainian forces. “One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to execution. These are Ukrainian actions that will undoubtedly be in history books.”

The strikes hit four airbases far from the front lines: Belaya airbase in Irkutsk Oblast, Olenya in Murmansk near the Arctic Circle, Dyagilevo in Ryazan Oblast, and Ivanovo in central Russia.

According to Ukrainian intelligence sources cited by the BBC, the damaged assets include Tu-95 and Tu-22M3 nuclear-capable strategic bombers, as well as an A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft. The total estimated damage exceeds $2 billion USD.

Footage posted on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels showed plumes of smoke rising from the affected airbases. In one widely circulated clip, a bystander can be heard saying drones had launched from “a Kamaz truck near a petrol station.” Russian state media acknowledged strikes across five regions and labeled the attacks “a terrorist act.” However, prominent Russian military bloggers confirmed the loss of aircraft and critical infrastructure, including fuel storage depots.

Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev confirmed the Belaya strike, stating the drones had been launched from a civilian truck and that the situation was “under control” with no casualties reported.

SBU officials told the BBC that Spider’s Web was a “logistical and operational breakthrough,” describing a multi-stage smuggling effort that first inserted the FPV drones into Russia, followed later by mobile launch platforms. “Once on Russian territory, the drones were hidden under the roofs of these cabins,” one source said. “At the right moment, the roofs were remotely opened, and the drones took off.”

Zelensky credited SBU chief General Vasyl Maliuk with executing the unprecedented strike. “I thanked General Maliuk for this success of Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “We are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war. Russia must end it.”

The operation comes amid intensifying cross-border attacks by both sides. Hours earlier, a Russian missile barrage killed 12 Ukrainian soldiers and injured over 60 at a training base. Ukrainian air defenses responded by reportedly downing 385 Russian aerial targets across multiple regions.

The timing of the drone assault—just ahead of a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday—appears aimed at pressuring Moscow. Zelensky has demanded a “complete and unconditional ceasefire,” while Russian officials are calling for a halt to Western arms transfers to Ukraine, a condition Kyiv rejects.

“These strikes are a clear and effective guarantee of Ukraine’s security,” Zelensky said. “Glory to Ukraine.”

Military analyst Tom Shugart noted the implications of the strike could extend far beyond the European theater, warning that Ukraine’s use of covert drone launches deep inside enemy territory raises implications for China’s global trade and access to Western ports.

“A reminder, given today’s Ukrainian drone strikes, that it is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control,” Shugart posted Sunday afternoon, referencing mounting U.S. tensions with China over its aggression toward Taiwan.

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Beijing ‘Imminent’ Threat to Taiwan: U.S. Defense Secretary Issues Stark Warning

Published on May 31, 2025

By

Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

“It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”

In an unprecedented escalation of U.S. military preparedness rhetoric, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today warned that the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan—and broader actions against Asian states—is “real and could be imminent.” Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth made clear that the United States now views China’s intentions as an urgent and rising threat, not a distant risk.

“We are preparing for war in order to deter war to achieve peace through strength,” Hegseth said. “Any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force will result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real and could be imminent.”

A clip of Hegseth’s address quickly circulated on social media. In response, Taiwan’s security chief Joseph Wu wrote: “It’s critical for all U.S. allies and partners to remain clear-eyed about China’s ambitions. Taiwan is investing seriously in its own defense. But recent PLA activity suggests Taiwan is not the only target. We must work together to prevent the CCP from dominating the Indo-Pacific.”

Recent military intelligence shows that Beijing is actively preparing for large-scale operations. In April 2025, China launched “Strait Thunder 2025A,” a major military exercise involving 135 warplanes and 38 warships encircling Taiwan. The drills simulated both a blockade and an amphibious landing. Around the same time, the Shandong aircraft carrier group maneuvered to within 24 nautical miles of Taiwan’s coast. Intelligence analysts warn that such incursions are likely to increase, with growing concern that operations staged as exercises could serve as cover for the sudden launch of a full-scale invasion.

“U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific can and should upgrade their own defenses,” Hegseth added. “It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”

He drew a direct connection to President Donald Trump’s campaign to push NATO countries toward increased defense spending.

The Indo-Pacific Will Be ‘Your Generation’s Fight’

Two days before Hegseth’s speech in Singapore, a parallel message echoed across the U.S. military establishment. On May 29, speaking at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s commencement, Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink delivered a blunt forecast: the cadets’ careers would not be shaped by past wars in the Middle East, but by looming great-power conflict in the Pacific.

“Class of 2025,” Meink said, “the Indo-Pacific will be your generation’s fight. And you will deliver the most lethal force this nation has ever fielded—or we will not succeed.”

Framing China as the central challenge of the era, Meink echoed Hegseth’s call for deterrence through strength. He stressed that defending the U.S. homeland must go hand-in-hand with building a Joint Force capable of neutralizing China’s expanding military capabilities—including its missile arsenal, cyber units, and maritime coercion in the East and South China Seas.

Meink also pointed to the modernization of U.S. deterrence infrastructure, including development of the so-called “Golden Dome”—a proposed network of land- and space-based sensors and interceptors designed to detect and defeat hypersonic and ballistic missile threats aimed at North America and U.S. bases abroad.

China’s Amphibious Blueprint: From Dockyard to Beachhead

Meanwhile, analysis of striking new satellite imagery reveals a dramatic development in China’s military posture. A series of large vessels under construction at Chinese shipyards appear designed to sail toward Taiwan’s shores, lower pilings into the seabed, and transform into floating sections of a mobile landing dock—assembled in real time upon arrival.

The design, which eliminates the need for ports or tugboats, reinforces mounting concerns that Beijing’s preparations are not symbolic, but operational.

Naval analyst Tom Shugart, building on open-source intelligence findings, released high-resolution imagery showing the vessels’ defining features. Each ship appears purpose-built for amphibious warfare—engineered to deliver tanks and armored vehicles directly onto contested beaches with speed and efficiency.

“These aren’t simple barges,” Shugart wrote. “They look like self-powered landing ships.”

Each vessel includes six vertical pilings that can be lowered to anchor the ship to the ocean floor, stabilizing it during offload. Two wide ramps can be unfolded to connect with roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, allowing vehicles to drive directly from transport to shore.

This floating dock system would allow China to launch a mechanized amphibious assault with minimal delay—an essential capability for a rapid strike across the Taiwan Strait.

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