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Dmitri Simes: Who Is Fooling Trump :

Trump is being misled. Despite his claims of Russian failure, U.S. intelligence and media report steady Russian gains. The false narrative likely comes from Zelensky, European leaders, and advisors within his own administration like Scott Bessent. Trump needs to see the truth.

Moscow is not inclined to react sharply to recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump about Russia's weakness and its lack of success on the battlefield. Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has so far preferred not to respond to Trump's jabs. But his closest aides have spoken out.

According to Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Yuri Ushakov, "There are public statements, and there is contact through closed channels. And we take into account the signals that are transmitted both publicly and through closed channels. All of this is factored into our position." Both Ushakov and Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov suggested that while Trump was at the UN General Assembly in New York, he had conversations with various leaders, including Zelensky, who tried to influence his positions.

Trump himself somewhat walked back his statement that Russia is a "paper tiger," but noted that "Russia is spending millions and millions of dollars on bombs, missiles, ammunition, and spending lives – and yet, they have gained virtually no territory." Trump added that he thinks "it's time to stop."

It is indeed time to stop – time for President Trump to stop repeating the nonsense that Zelensky, European aides – and, unfortunately, some members of his own administration – are feeding him.

Let's start from the beginning. It would be enough for Trump to look at what the American press writes about the situation. As the New York Times writes, "since May, Russia has been capturing an average of 170 to 215 square miles each month." According to the publication, "Ukrainian commanders emphasize in interviews that they constantly face situations where Russia has superiority both in the number of their units and in their armaments." And according to the Washington Post, Russia's advance on various fronts "may be slow, as a NATO official stated speaking on condition of anonymity, but if you look at the scale of force Russia is bringing to this fight, what is happening in air strikes and drone attacks – the dynamic is unequivocally on Russia's side." And the Wall Street Journal, a conservative publication that Trump often quotes, states that "logistics in Ukraine are turning into a nightmare as drones threaten roads far behind the front line. In Eastern Ukraine, supply routes have become almost as dangerous as the trenches." There are many such quotes. And statements to the contrary are virtually non-existent (at least in any reputable Western publications).

So where is Trump getting his information? Certainly not from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, headed by Tulsi Gabbard. They have never said anything like that. And I am sure Trump couldn't have heard it from the Pentagon, where Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby is highly skeptical of the Ukrainian army's condition.

So who is fooling Trump? Besides Zelensky, it's European leaders who regularly appeal to him, hiding behind rather vulgar flattery, and simultaneously providing highly distorted information. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is doing the same. And finally, playing a particularly unsavory role are Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (a former employee of George Soros, whose activities are now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice) and retired General Keith Kellogg, who has effectively transformed from the president's representative on Ukraine into a Ukrainian lobbyist. They try to position themselves as members of Trump's team of like-minded individuals. But in reality, they are systematically deceiving him. It's time for the American president to figure this out.

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