"I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him."
— Donald J. Trump
Sorry, but I couldn't resist commenting on this.
It's very strange to hear President Trump express surprise that Vladimir Putin is a killer, as if this is some recent revelation. For those who've paid attention over the years — to the annexation of Crimea, the flattening of Grozny, the assassinations of political opponents and journalists, or the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — this isn't a case of new information.
Putin's background in the KGB, his crackdown on dissent, and his disdain for democratic norms have been clear since the beginning. Whether it was the suspiciously timed Moscow apartment bombings in 1999 that helped launch the Second Chechen War, or the murder of Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium in London, the signs have always been there.
Trump, of course, has long had a habit of admiring authoritarian leaders while criticizing America's allies. He called Putin "a genius" and was "savvy" when the invasion of Ukraine began — not exactly the language of someone who sees a tyrant for what he is. So when he now claims Putin "changed," it's hard to see it as anything but theater.
The truth is, Putin hasn't changed. He's been doing the same thing for decades. The only thing that's changed is the political moment — and maybe Trump's calculation of how to talk about it. Claiming ignorance now doesn't erase the years of fawning praise or the damage done by undermining NATO and cozying up to strongmen.
This isn't about a sudden moral awakening. It's about pretending not to have seen what was always obvious — and hoping nobody else remembers. One is reminded of the feigned innocence of Neville Chamberlain, marveling at Hitler's betrayal as though Mein Kampf hadn't been in circulation for over a decade.