Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel Rahm Emanuel believes that President Trump’s actions related to the Russia-Ukraine war are helping fulfill a goal long sought by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Emanuel shared his views on Tuesday’s “Hooks on Tap” podcast with Democratic strategists David Axelrod and Mike Murphy. They discussed Trump’s handling of peace talks and the growing concerns in Europe, where many feel Trump is unfairly blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the war.
Murphy pointed out that Russians are “celebrating” because of recent talks between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia, while Ukraine was left out of the conversation. “The main goal for Russia since World War II has been to weaken NATO and divide the Atlantic alliance, and Trump is helping them do that,” Murphy said.
Emanuel agreed, saying, “Since Joseph Stalin, this has been their main goal, and now an American president is helping make Stalin’s dream come true.”
Murphy added that the Trump administration is giving Russia exactly what they want: private talks with no real concessions. “If I were the Europeans, I’d want to be at that table too,” Emanuel said. “The U.S. team needs to be watched closely.”
On Tuesday, Trump blamed Zelensky for the war, claiming it would never have happened if he had been president during the past four years. Trump has also said he wants to end the war quickly, pushing for a deal with Russia to prevent further loss of life.
However, his approach has worried many Western European leaders, as well as Zelensky, because Ukraine has been left out of peace talks. These talks might even involve a deal where Ukraine would have to give up land currently controlled by Russia.
Trump’s Public comments blaming Zelensky for Russia’s invasion of his country are unnerving Senate Republicans, who have largely sought to avoid conflicts with the White House.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) expressed concern about any actions that could create a “moral equivalency” between Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin. Tillis, who visited Ukraine over the weekend with two Senate Democrats and saw the damage caused by the fighting in suburban Kyiv, pushed back on Trump’s criticism of Zelensky. On Wednesday, Trump took to Truth Social and called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” who was doing a “terrible job.”
Tillis defended Zelensky, saying, “Zelensky is frustrated, but he’s also been the right head of state for the time. He’s kept a nation together focused on Russian occupiers, and I think we should give them a fair amount of credit for that work.”
Tillis emphasized that Putin must ultimately lose for the sake of U.S. security, but said he was willing to give Trump some flexibility in his approach. “The president has used some fairly successful, aggressive negotiating tactics in the past, so I’ll give him latitude for now,” Tillis explained. “But at the end of the day, Putin needs to be a loser and the Ukrainian people need to be the winners. Let’s get past the leadership personalities and talk about what’s most important: a free Ukraine, not for its own sake, but for the sake of national security, the United States, and European security.”
Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee and is a strong supporter of Ukraine, also weighed in. He said that any peace talks that could lead to a fair result must include Ukrainians at the table and take European interests into account. Wicker made it clear that Russian President Putin should not be trusted in these discussions. “Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life — if not executed,” he added.
