Unveiling Trump’s hidden agenda to stop the Ukraine war

According to a report from The Washington Post, Donald Trump has a strategy to end the conflict in Ukraine, but it may not lead to a resolution that benefits Kyiv if he is reelected, as revealed by the former president's plans.

Sources familiar with Trump's plan say the former president has privately said he would pressure Ukraine to give up some of its territory to end the conflict, but that isn't the worst of what Trump is allegedly planning.

The former president wants Kyiv to give up both Crimea and the Donbas region of the country.  The Washington Post reported Trump privately talks about how both Russia and Ukraine “want to save face, they want a way out,” and that there are some living in Ukrainian regions that would be okay with being ruled by Russia.

The Trump campaign declined to comment on the allegations but spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt did note in a statement:  “Any speculation about President Trump’s plan is coming from unnamed and uninformed sources who have no idea what is going on or what will happen."

“President Trump is the only one talking about stopping the killing," Leavitt went on to add. However, this isn't the first time the former president has made news headlines over his 'plan' to end the war in Ukraine. However, it was the first time the world got real insight into what his plan may be if he wins in November.

In March 2023, Trump made a bold claim when he stated that he could solve the war in Ukraine within twenty-four hours of being reelected. The former president did not provide any details at that time, but we have learned a lot one year on from his statement. 

Trump was sitting for an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity when he explained that he could end the then-year-long war unfolding in Ukraine within twenty-four hours if it was not already solved according to a report from The Hill on Trump’s comments. 

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“If it’s not solved, I will have it solved in 24 hours with Zelensky and with Putin… there’s a very easy negotiation to take place. But I don’t want to tell you what it is because then I can’t use that negotiation; it’ll never work.” the former president explained. 

“But it’s a very easy negotiation to take place,” Trump added. “I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them. Now that’s a year and a half. That’s a long time. I can’t imagine something not happening.” The key for Trump was to end the death. 

The former president told Hannity that the war had to be stopped because Ukraine was being obliterated. Trump’s line that he could end the war shortly after taking office is one he has stuck to since making the remark and he’s even provided some details. 

In July 2023, Trump sat down with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures and he gave the world a little insight into how he thought he could end the war in Ukraine after taking office, which he thought could be done via negotiations. 

Trump explained that because he had good relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he was uniquely qualified to negotiate a deal between the two leaders that would put an end to the war. 

“I know Zelensky very well, I know Putin very well—even better—and I had a very good relationship with both of them,” Trump stated, adding that he would explain to Zelensky: "No more, you gotta make a deal.” President Putin would have a similar treatment. This statement seems to hold with the new information learned from The Washington Post. 

Trump told Bartiromo he would explain to Putin: "If you don't make a deal, we're gonna give them a lot. We're gonna give more than they ever got. And that is it, the war will be over.'' So it seems his plan to end the war was to arm Ukraine if Russia didn’t cut a deal.

However, Trump may have had a change of heart concerning how he was planning to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine based on comments from Hungarian President Viktor Orbán following a March 2024 meeting between the two men. 

“He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” Orbán told Hungarian state media on March 10th following a meeting between himself and the former president in Florida according to a report from Politico. This again may lend some credence to the information published by The Washington Post. 

“Therefore, the war will end, because it is obvious that Ukraine can not stand on its own feet,” Orbán continued, hinting that Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine to just refrain from funding Kyiv’s war effort until the country collapsed. 

“If the Americans don’t give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, the war is over,” Orbán said. “And if the Americans don’t give money, the Europeans alone can’t finance this war. And then the war is over.”

Orbán also said that Trump does have a detailed plan to end the war, adding that it was one that merged well with Hungary’s interests. Whether or not that plan will merge well with American and world interests has yet to be seen. 

In July 2023, Zelensky called Trump’s ambition to bring an end to the war beautiful but also added that if the desire included Ukraine giving up any territory then Kyiv wouldn’t agree according to Mediaite. 

In November 2023, Zelensky invited Trump to Ukraine saying: "If he can come here, I will need 24 minutes … to explain [to] President Trump that he can’t manage this war” in 24 hours according to an earlier report from The Washington Post. 

January 2024 Zelensky told Britain’s Channel Four News Trump’s idea to end the war in 24 hours was really stressing him out because he was concerned Trump may try to take unilaterally to end the war in a way that wouldn’t work for the Ukrainian people. 

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Zelensky’s harshest criticism of Trump came at the end of February 2024 when he said: “He can’t solve it with Putin and with Russia, because we will never be ready to give our territory just for the stopping of the war, give them sort of a sense of our country.”

“I think he doesn’t really understand that Putin will not stop. … He wants to occupy us totally. That’s why I think that Donald Trump doesn’t know Putin,” Zelensky continued, which is a comment that hits at the heart of Trump’s possible solutions to the war. 

What will happen if Trump wins reelection in November 2024 and moves to force Ukraine to make a deal either through withholding funding or by pressuring Kyiv to cede territory is not yet known. But based on Zelensky's comments, its unlike Kyiv will pressured into making peace with Russia by Trump.

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