Trump Manages to Make Ukraine War All About Himself

More than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia invaded the Eastern European nation in February 2022. Cities have been leveled, and 370,000 injuries have been reported, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

But the scope and scale of that devastation is apparently easily comprehended by Donald Trump, who has refused to visit the country. Speaking with reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump repeated several times that Ukraine had been “flattened like a pancake” while comparing the war to his lucrative Manhattan real estate career.

The president-elect took a detour while responding to a question about whether he believed Ukraine should cede territory to Russia, describing areas of the country as more akin to “demolition sites” than recognizable cities.

“A lot of that territory, when you look at what’s happened to those—there are cities where there’s not a building standing. It’s a demolition site. There’s not a building standing,” Trump said. “People can’t go back to those cities.”

But that’s when the president-elect’s answer took a turn for the worse, suddenly conflating the controlled demolitions carried out by his multimillion-dollar real estate development company to the near-constant barrage of bombs dropped by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities.

“Just like when I knock down a building in Manhattan, which is actually, this is worse actually, because we do it step by step,” he continued. “This thing, this is—and by the way, in those buildings are many people. Many people are in those buildings.

“Big buildings—this is what I did, very well—these are very long buildings, 15 to 20 stories high, and they’re flattened like a pancake.

“It’s gotta be stopped, and I’m doing my best to stop it,” he added.

Trump’s other answers about his international relationships were similarly befuddling. At one point, the president-elect insisted that Chinese President Xi Jinping had not yet decided if he would attend Trump’s inauguration (Xi has reportedly declined the invitation) and claimed that leaders of hundreds of nations had phoned him to attend, dryly remarking that “you wouldn’t believe how many countries there are.”

Ultimately, any attendance by a world leader at Trump’s inauguration would be historically unprecedented. State Department records dating back to 1874 indicate that no foreign heads of state have ever shown up to the ceremony, typically over security concerns.

One of Trump’s biggest and boldest campaign promises was that he would immediately end the Russian invasion of Ukraine—though his philosophy on how to achieve that was suspiciously scant of details and, at times, veered toward solutions that would invariably aid Russia.

In June, Trump said he would be open to an increase in U.S. weapons aid to Ukraine so long as it shows up for peace talks with Russia.

Trump’s advisers envisioned that the peace talks—which Trump promised to facilitate upon winning in November—would also quietly include Ukraine ceding part of the country that is currently occupied by Russian forces. The concept was drawn up by retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg and Fred Fleitz, both former chiefs of staff in Trump’s National Security Council.

Trump has also threatened to initiate U.S. withdrawal from NATO, the strategic Western military and trade alliance that opposes Russia. In February, Trump claimed he once told a European leader that he’d allow Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies if other members didn’t “pay” their “bills.”

CNN announced Sunday that it has begun investigating the identity of a man who the network had claimed in a recent report was a prisoner of the ousted Syrian government, according to The Wrap.

In a story published last week, chief CNN international correspondent Clarissa Ward and her crew, escorted by Syrian rebels, discovered a man hiding under a blanket in what was the “only locked cell” in a “secret prison” at a Syrian air force intelligence base in Damascus.

The man identified himself as a civilian named Adel Gharbal from Homs, and claimed that he had been in solitary confinement for three months. He appeared surprised to learn that Bashar Al Assad’s regime had fallen.

“In nearly twenty years as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed,” Ward wrote in a post on X.

When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper what is known “about this man and how he ended up in the prison,” Ward admitted that “we don’t know that much because you can see from the report, Anderson, that he’s in a deep state of shock.”

However, some concerns have surfaced about the veracity of the report.

A website called Verify-Sy, which states that it fact-checks stories about Syria, said that residents of a neighborhood called Al Bayyada had identified the man as Salama Mohammad Salama, or “Abu Hamza,” a first lieutenant in Syrian air force intelligence.

Verify-Sy also pointed out that the man’s behavior did not seem to match his reported conditions of confinement and torture, as he did not flinch when exposed to light and appeared well groomed and physically unharmed.

Now CNN is looking into the possibility that the man wasn’t a prisoner at all.

“We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution. We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story,” CNN said in a statement to The Wrap.

“No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day. The events transpired as they appear in our film,” CNN said in the statement. “The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard—a Syrian rebel.”

CNN can’t seem to spot the difference between the assassination of a health insurance executive who made his money denying millions of Americans health care access and the death of innocent people at the hands of police.

On Sunday, CNN host Michael Smerconish lamented that the American public hadn’t rushed to memorialize the outside of the midtown Manhattan Hilton Hotel where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated earlier this month.

“I slowed my gait as I passed a side entrance to the Hilton Hotel, realizing that this was the same day in the same early morning hour in the precise location where, one week prior, a 50-year-old father of two was assassinated,” Smerconish monologued on air. “But something was missing. Any sign whatsoever of the tragedy that occurred right here, and which has captivated the nation.”

“We’ve all seen the crime scene that’s been shown many times in the media. But a week later, here’s what was left: a lone piece of NYPD crime tape affixed to a barrier. No memorial of the kind that often appears spontaneously after a similar tragedy.”

Smerconish then went on to compare Thompson’s death to some of the most tragic cultural touchstones in the nation’s recent history, including the murders of John Lennon, George Floyd, Heather Heyer, and Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“But there was no sign of any makeshift memorial on 51st Street,” Smerconish added in a segment with the on-screen banner “a sad, new normalcy.”

What Smerconish seems to be missing, however, is the sad role that Thompson played in a system that increasingly prioritizes shareholder profits over successful medical outcomes for its clients. The public’s response to the executive’s death should be studied, not condemned, as an indictment on the sorry state and exploitative nature of America’s health care industry.

Federal data from 2022 compiled by the personal finance website ValuePenguin found that UnitedHealthcare far outpaced its competitors when it came to denying coverage, rejecting 32 percent, or roughly one in three claims. In 2024, the insurer’s parent group spent more than $5.8 million lobbying Congress on health care–related issues.

Meanwhile, Americans are paying more than ever for health insurance, with costs far outpacing the rate of inflation. A Kaiser Family Foundation report published earlier this year found that the vast majority of U.S. adults are worried about being able to afford a major medical expense, regardless of their financial position.

Lindsey Graham told Meet the Press that Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, plans on releasing the woman who accused him of sexual assault from her nondisclosure agreement, essentially forcing her to choose between saying nothing or going public with her story and subjecting herself to vile partisan attacks.

“He told me he would release her from that agreement,” Graham said. “I would want to know if anybody nominated for a high-level job in Washington legitimately assaulted somebody.

“If people have an allegation to make, come forward and make it,” the South Carolina senator added. “We’ll decide whether or not it’s credible. Right now [Hegseth is] being tried by anonymous sources. That will not stand.”

Despite Graham’s objections to “anonymous” allegations, the woman in question filed a police report against Hegseth, accusing him of sexual assault in 2017. The police report noted that she had bruises on her thigh. The defense secretary nominee and former Fox & Friends host later paid the woman an undisclosed sum.

Trump and Senate Republicans have done a 180 on Hegseth, from calling his allegations “very disturbing” to now being “in a good place with Pete,” as Graham said. Hegseth has been accused of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement of two different veterans’ groups, and workplace misconduct including intoxication and sexist behavior. Now the GOP is rallying around him in the same way they rallied around Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 nomination hearings. And as with Kavanaugh, they seem very prepared to make his alleged victim’s life hell.

“All of these are anonymous allegations. He’s given me his side of the story. It makes sense to me, I believe him. Unless somebody’s willing to come forward I think he’s gonna get through,” Graham continued. “Remember Kavanaugh? … We’re not gonna let that happen to Pete.”

Even Donald Trump’s staunchest allies can’t be saved from MAGA’s wrath.

Senator Lindsey Graham is facing the heat after he contradicted Trump’s prior comments on January 6 investigators, plainly stating in a Sunday interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that the government should not prosecute the officials who looked into Trump’s involvement in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“President-elect Trump told me that he thinks the members of the January 6 Committee should go to jail. Do you agree with that statement?” asked host Kristen Welker.

After a brief pause, Graham offered a one-word response: “No.”

“OK, that was very clear and concise,” Welker said.

But that didn’t sit well with Trump’s frenetic base, who took to the internet to torch the South Carolinian for barely veering away from the president-elect’s philosophy.

“What is up with this guy? Who controls him? What dirt do they have on him? Other than him along with [NO NAME] involvement with Ukraine?” posted one popular MAGA account, PrayingMarine, on X. “Trump is right. This dude is dirty.”

Another pro-Trump influencer slammed Graham as a “snake.”

“He had no problem with innocent protestors and grandmas having their lives destroyed over Jan. 6,” posted @SirStevenKJ. “However, he believes the TREASONOUS Jan 6 Committee should not face prosecution or jail time. Nasty.”

Trump has made incredible overtures to the far-right followers who rioted through Congress, temporarily delaying the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. So far, he has promised to pardon convicted insurrectionists, but he’s also invited some to help shape his administration.

The president-elect has tapped one January 6 rioter—Pete Marocco—to help his transition into the White House on matters related to national security personnel.