Donald Trump at a rally in Kansas, October 19, 2026 (Sky)
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Donald Trump’s Betrayal and Alliance with Putin
EA-Silicon Curtain VideoCast: Trump Has Joined Russia In War v. Ukraine
Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Trump Camp Restores Intelligence Sharing
Swinging to support of Moscow’s 56-month full-scale invasion, Donald Trump says, “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much.”
Trump spoke to reporters on Monday, just after a Russian daytime drone strike on a park that killed six people, including two children. Overnight, Russia attacked Kyiv with more than 12 ballistic missiles and targeted almost 30 critical energy facilities across Ukraine.
Since October 9, with the Kremlin offering deal worth tens of billions of dollars profiting associates of his family and friends, Trump has undermined US sanctions and agreed to purchase of Russian diesel oil. Early-warning intelligence has been cut at times, amid Russia’s missile and drone strikes threatening US personnel as well as Ukraine’s civilians. The military version of Starlink, Starshield, has been restricted.
Trump said he is open Jonas Gahr Støreto a trilateral meeting, proposed by the Kremlin, with Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said the main purpose of the meeting would be discussion of nuclear disarmament.
Trump said of Xi, “He’s been very fair with Ukraine. He hasn’t been much involved, and same with Russia.”
He then made a garbled assertion, “They haven’t been nearly what they could have been, and I appreciate that.” It was unclear if he was referring to China or Russia.
Trump promoted his recent support of the Kremlin, citing negotiations for the release of a high-profile hostage. He insisted, in defiance of US intelligence, that Russia was “very well-behaved on Iran” and Putin was “laying off” amid the US war.
US officials have spoken of Russia’s shipment of weapons to Iran, aid in Tehran’s missile development, and provision of intelligence to help Iran attack US bases and troops in the Middle East. Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Dan Caine has confirmed the support.
But Trump declared, “Russia’s done nothing there that we can see, and I think that’s a very positive….Russia could have done a lot more to help Iran. Russia’s done very little for Iran.”
He continued his verbal assault on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given nothing to us.”
Witkoff To Meet Zelensky and Europe Officials
Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, will meet Zelensky and European officials in Norway’s capital Oslo on Tuesday.
Witkoff will then convene with Putin in the Kremlin.
During his last meeting with Ukrainian and European officials on October 9, Witkoff announced Trump’s diesel deal. He threatened a cutoff of US intelligence sharing if Ukraine did not halt attacks on Russian refineries.
Ukraine suspended the strikes for 72 hours but then, with Trump backing Moscow, resumed attacks including on Russia’s third-largest refinery in St. Petersburg.
The talks in Oslo today will also include Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre; representatives of the UK, France, Germany, and Poland; and officials from the European Union and NATO.
Trump’s other envoy, son-in-law Jared Kushner, has the flu and will participate virtually.
Continuing its manipulation of Trump and his envoys, the Kremlin is dangling the possibility of the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher who has been wrongfully detained in Russia.
