From meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House on Monday, it appears President Donald Trump is determined to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The Daily Signal’s president and executive editor, Rob Bluey, joined the panel on CNN’s “NewsNight With Abby Phillip” on Monday evening—just hours after Zelenskyy and the other European leaders visited the White House—to discuss a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Some panelists claimed that Trump is just bluffing and isn’t really trying to end the war. Bluey, however, argued that Trump is directly challenging Putin by getting Europe to increase “participation when it [comes] to defense spending to defend Ukraine” to “5% of gross domestic product.”
That’s a testament to Trump’s having more success with European countries and NATO compared with previous presidents—or even his own first term in the White House. Even Phillip commended him, saying, “I think most people at this table could, or probably should, agree that … Trump’s bullying of NATO countries … he actually got that [strengthened NATO]. You have to give him credit for that.”
Since his time on the campaign trail last fall, Trump has shifted his tone with regard to the war in one respect. He used to say he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in “24 hours” and now says “it’s not the easiest” war to end.
“I think some of us expect Donald Trump to wave a magic wand and solve these problems very quickly, when in fact it’s going to take days, if not weeks, to ultimately get to some sort of resolution,” Bluey said.
The panelists also discussed Trump’s recent announcement that he wants to sign an executive order before the 2026 midterm elections to eliminate mail-in ballots and the “seriously controversial voting machines.”
While some of the other panelists argued that would “disproportionately affect poor people, people of color, and transient folk,” Bluey reminded them that The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard shows how fair and secure each state’s election laws and regulations are, based on Heritage policy experts’ assessments.
“A group on the Left can come up with their own scorecard,” Bluey said. “Let’s have the states figure out the best solution for voting, and then we can have them compete against each other and see who comes up with the best solution.”
