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How President Trump Can End a Lost War
General Flynn's Substack - Official ^ | Aug 13, 2025 | Michael T. Flynn LTG USA (RET)

Posted on 08/13/2025 7:55:24 PM PDT by little jeremiah

President Trump’s upcoming summit in Alaska with President Putin will be a defining moment not just in U.S. relations with the Russian Federation, but also for the safety and survival of the world. I do not believe that most Americans fully understand the gravity of the situation. My personal assessment is that if these two leaders cannot reach an agreement this weekend, then the chances increase dramatically that events could spiral out of control, leading to an unthinkable catastrophe. Zelensky appears to be trying to box in President Trump by his trip to Germany to continue funds flow to him for his war. Certainly, continued assistance from Europe could prolong the killing, but what happens this weekend, is critical to bring it to an end.

I have had many friends and colleagues on both sides of the original debate as to whether the Ukraine War was originally worth fighting. Since then, friends have disagreed as to whether it was worth the enormous financial cost to our country and whether it was worth the terrible toll of the blood of young men on both sides. Official spending figures since February 2022 total $175 billion, but other estimates range far higher when including both expenditures since the Russians moved back into Crimea in February 2014 and estimates of classified “off budget” activities. But those debates have been overtaken by events. Despite Ukrainian men often fighting valiantly, Ukraine has lost, and the dying must now be stopped. The Book of Ecclesiastes teaches that there is “a time for war,” and I believe with all my heart this is the “time for peace.”

I sometimes think that in Washington, D.C. and NATO, President Trump is just about the only person who really wants the killing to stop and stop now. He campaigned on this promise, and he says it all the time. I believe if peace is achieved, President Trump’s first and most important objective will be achieved.

There are some in our midst, particularly Neocons who really don’t want peace, as they seem to lust for war. They demand that President Trump somehow reverse the substantial battlefield victories of the Russian Federation over the Ukrainians at the bargaining table. If so, this would be the first time in military history of which I am aware that to the loser goes the spoils. History teaches us that winning on the battlefield has consequences. And, losing on the battlefield has even bigger consequences. Ignoring that reality is foolish and self-defeating. If we refuse to recognize the reality of the battlefield, there should be no need for a summit — just let the fighting continue to the last drop of Ukrainian blood — but this would be insanity.

I am about to state some hard truths for my friends, so even though I don’t think I need to state my MAGA credentials, I’m going to give you a flavor. In the 2016 campaign, I travelled nationally with President Trump. I spoke for him at the Republican National Convention. I served briefly as his National Security Advisor until the Deep State deep-sixed me with lies about my efforts to defuse a tense diplomatic situation created by Obama in my dealings with the Russian Ambassador. I lost almost everything my wife and I possessed in defending against entirely phony charges by the corrupt Obama Justice Department. But I clawed my way back, and I stayed in the game to fight for and with President Trump. And for the years PresidentTrump was under indictment, I travelled as many miles as anyone in America to keep his flame alive. Since then, my nonprofit has done as much as any in the country to support and defend his policies in the courts.

So, I have a message for my MAGA friends from the perspective of someone who has great personal affection for the President: You can help the President, the nation, and the world by reducing your expectations for what can be achieved. No matter how good President Trump may be at the “art of the deal,” this is one of those situations where — as he told Zelensky in the Oval office — we don’t have the cards. A man I have gotten to know who was a senior official in the Reagan Administration tells me that even President Reagan never asked the Russians to do what was against their interests — which likely explains why he was so successful in achieving American objectives.

The hand that President Trump has been dealt is largely due to the incompetence and corruption of so-called President Zelensky and the Ukrainian government. Ukraine regularly described as one of the most corrupt countries in Europe — and even the World. It was a Ukrainian energy company that paid Hunter Biden for being Joe Biden’s son. How many stories have I read about the money that has been siphoned off by Ukrainian government officials instead of meeting the needs of Ukrainian troops, all to ensure Ukrainian elites receive a soft landing when they are forced out of Kiev? Although Zelensky was once elected President of Ukraine, his term ended 15 months ago, and he declared martial law and cancelled elections to cling to power.

· This is the same man who jeopardized world peace with an insane drone attack on the Russian Federation’s strategic (i.e., nuclear) bombers.

· This is the man who one day agrees to give territory for peace and the next day says that kind of trade could never happen.

· This is the man whose key military units in his government have been using Nazi-like symbols without apology.

· This is the man who, as the Vice President explained, continued to make demands on America while never expressing any appreciation for what we have done.

The truth is, even with enormous U.S. aid for his war effort, plus more from Europe, Zelensky fumbled the ball. He is drafting, and his henchmen are now kidnapping, 60-year-old men to serve in his military, given little training, offering them up as cannon fodder. His popularity with the Ukrainian people is in the tank. Only 24 percent of the Ukrainian People want this war to continue, but he demands it grind on. Zelensky has no right to be at the table in Alaska. The adults need to take over. It is largely because of Zelensky that we are where we are.

So we, the MAGA movement, must reduce our expectations for what can be achieved from this summit. I am going to take a leaf from President Kennedy’s famous peace speech at American University when he said: “Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union.”

Maybe you will think this is making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but let’s try to do what President Kennedy suggested.

First, if the situation were reversed, and the now-abolished Warsaw Pact was recruiting Mexico and Canada to join it, to surround the United States with friends of the now-abolished Soviet Union, how would we feel? That’s how the Russian Federation feels about being surrounded by NATO. NATO was organized to prevent a war, not to cause one. NATO expansion presents an existential threat for Russia. Many Americans believe who governs Eastern Ukraine is absolutely no concern of ours — but for sure, it is not a vital national security interest of ours.

Second, we say we believe in self-determination. People in the four Oblasts — where the Russian culture, Russian language, Russian Orthodox Church predominate — voted overwhelmingly in 2022 (in an election likely fairer than our 2020 election) to join Russia. They are part of Russia. For years, these same Oblasts begged President Putin to protect them from the Ukrainian government, which was attacking them, but he held back. If you forgot that history, for a sample watch this early CNN report. So, why is it in the vital national interest of America to thwart the will of the people who want to be part of Russia to be part of Russia?

Third, when the United States promised the Soviet Union, and then Russian Federation, it would not expand eastward, and we broke our word, should we now believe it tragic that the Russian Federation finally acted to stop this expansion when it reached its doorstep? Remember how we felt about Soviet missiles in Cuba when we were ready to go to war?

Fourth, the Soviet Union is the world’s largest country geographically, spanning 11 time zones, with only about 140 million people. Are we really afraid they will march into Poland (which largely hates them) and then into Germany? The threat of President Putin dreaming to recreate the old Soviet Union is delusional Neocon thinking.

And, even if you disagree with all these propositions, how much is enough? War always has a prudential component. Can we really afford to continue? Luke 14 instructs: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? … Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand.” Our national debt just passed $37 trillion. Wasn’t the massive amount of money already spent enough? If not, what would be enough?

Anyone who has followed me for very long knows of my admiration for President Kennedy’s quest for peace. He urged: “Let us reexamine our attitude toward the cold war, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate, seeking to pile up debating points. We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment. We must deal with the world as it is, and not as it might have been....”

So, as for me, I am willing to leave this to President Trump. I believe he will end the war, negotiating to get the “best deal” he can get for our country and the people of Ukraine — not its government. This conflict has continued for decades, and President Biden left him with a terrible mess. I, for one, will not criticize the terms on which President Trump achieves peace.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: michaeltflynn; proxywar; putin; putinthewarpig; russiansuicide; russiantrollfarm; tldr; trump; ukraine; vladtheimploder; war; welfarewar
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An incredible history of the conflict in Ukraine. Explains it all.
1 posted on 08/13/2025 7:55:24 PM PDT by little jeremiah
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To: little jeremiah
One of the few articles that I've read from beginning to end.

He's right on every point...and I've been saying right along..."To the Victor Goes the Spoils".

2 posted on 08/13/2025 8:07:14 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: little jeremiah

Maybe I would support Ukraine more, if fighting-age Ukraninian men would leave Poland and stop harassing Poles and go to the front line to fight for their country.


3 posted on 08/13/2025 8:10:10 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Sacajaweau

He goes into the history of what happened before the war, and why Russia had to go into Ukraine.


4 posted on 08/13/2025 8:15:09 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: dfwgator

So many Ukrainian men have died there is a huge deficit; Zelensky has a lot of blood on his hands.


5 posted on 08/13/2025 8:15:54 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: little jeremiah

Truth. Next bail out point is -

There is none. Green Tshirt grifter splats the whole of Ukraine on the Russia windshield.

Exit Z grifter
Hold elections
Ceasefire and borders on battle lines
Europe pays to rehab what’s left of Uke
USA goes away.


6 posted on 08/13/2025 8:16:18 PM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: little jeremiah

Poland to expel 63 migrants over concert riot and militant-nationalist Bandera flag

https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/08/poland-to-expel-63-migrants-over-concert-riot-and-militant-nationalist-bandera-flag/


7 posted on 08/13/2025 8:16:41 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: FlyingEagle

But then Traitor Tusk had to chime in:

“That was despite the fact that, on announcing the decision, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk blamed Russia for sowing discord between Ukrainians and Poles.”


8 posted on 08/13/2025 8:17:34 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: little jeremiah

Only Ukrainians authorized by Ukrainian law should negotiate for Ukraine.

Trump and the US Department of State should offer assistance to Ukrainian negotiators and provide it if requested by an such negotiator.

Trump should feel free to ask Putin about Russian positions in the matter of the war and possible future Russian agreements.


9 posted on 08/13/2025 8:21:26 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: little jeremiah

Moscow Times [10/27/2021]

The neighboring separatist-held Luhansk People’s Republic accused Kiev of using the Bayraktar in violation of ceasefire agreements that ban the deployment of foreign drones on the front line.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that Turkey’s supply of drones to Ukraine risks destabilizing the eastern Ukraine conflict

The Ukrainian army has been locked in a long-running conflict with separatist fighters in Donetsk and Luhansk since 2014 after Moscow annexed the peninsula of Crimea from Kiev. The conflict has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of sending troops and arms to support the separatists, which Moscow denies.

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/10/27/ukraine-destroys-pro-russian-artillery-in-its-first-use-of-turkish-drones-a75420

Warsaw Institute [27 October 2021]

“The Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 combat drone has been deployed at Donbas by the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation for the first time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement. The drone targeted the positions of pro-Russian insurgents on October 26. The incident has been met with criticism from Moscow.”

“The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that the unmanned aerial vehicle was used to attack a battery of howitzers that fired Ukrainian positions in Hranitne on the southern part of the line of contact. One Ukrainian soldier was killed and the other was wounded. Despite calls for a ceasefire from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, “Russian-terrorist” forces did not stop the fire. The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces ordered the drone strike to “force the ceasefire.”

“The Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation said on October 26 that separatists made thirteen breaches to the ceasefire”

https://warsawinstitute.org/ukraine-uses-bayraktar-tb2-first-time-donbas/

New York Times [Nov. 15, 2021]

How a Dispute Over Groceries Led to Artillery Strikes in Ukraine

Deployed for the first time in combat by Ukraine and provided by a country that is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the drone hit a howitzer operated by the separatists. Things quickly escalated.

Across the border, Russia scrambled jets. The next day, Russian tanks mounted on rail cars rumbled toward the Ukrainian border.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-war-putin.html

BBC [26 November 2021]

they see the Kremlin sending a message that it’s ready to defend its “red lines” on Ukraine: above all, that it must not join Nato.

“I think for Putin it’s really important. He thinks the West has begun giving Ukraine’s elite hope about joining Nato,” political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya at R.Politik told the BBC.

“The training, the weapons and so on are like a red rag to a bull for Putin and he thinks if he doesn’t act today, then tomorrow there will be Nato bases in Ukraine. He needs to put a stop to that.”

Ukraine’s desire to join the security bloc is nothing new, nor is Russia’s insistence on vetoing that ambition in what it sees as its own “back yard”.

But Moscow has been rattled recently by the Ukrainian military using Turkish drones against Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine; the flight near Crimea of two nuclear-capable US bombers was an extra irritant.

“At a meeting between Putin and Biden, neither will give clear commitments but there may be some tacit understanding on how far the US is ready to go in increasing its military support to Ukraine,” Mr Kortunov argues. “That’s not impossible.”

“Whilst Putin has a flicker of hope that he can do a deal with Biden, he won’t take any rash steps. But if he thinks it’s all doomed, he could do the worst things we can imagine,” Tatiana Stanovaya warns.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59415885

Guardian [December 16, 2021]

“With tensions escalating along the border with Russia, Luke Harding visits troops in Ukraine’s Donbas region to gauge the mood ahead of a possible invasion. The war here has continued since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists seized Ukrainian cities.”

There’s a video I didn’t watch:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/dec/16/on-the-ukraine-frontline-only-the-dead-arent-afraid-video


10 posted on 08/13/2025 8:24:18 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: Brian Griffin

Only Ukrainians authorized by Ukrainian law should negotiate for Ukraine.

Trump and the US Department of State should offer assistance to Ukrainian negotiators and provide it if requested by any such negotiator.

Trump should feel free to ask Putin about Russian positions in the matter of the war and possible future Russian agreements.


11 posted on 08/13/2025 8:27:24 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: little jeremiah
General Flynn is right on every point.

The only thing Ukraine should get is the Biden and Obama Families as permanent residents, one way.

12 posted on 08/13/2025 8:40:13 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (President Trump Decisively Won Popular & E.C., Celebrate Recivilization!)
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To: Brian Griffin

But Ukraine (”Z”) does not wish to negotiate...My way or the highway is not negotiating....especially if you’re in a losing war...and it costs you more lives every day.


13 posted on 08/13/2025 8:44:47 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: little jeremiah

Trump will have to make concessions to the Russians to end this nonsense war.

One needs to remember one FACT: Ukraine has been net losing ground month after month for about 18 months now. As this war carries on, Ukraine will only lose MORE. A continuation of this war does NOT improve Ukraine’s position in any way, it in fact only weakens them.

The very fools responsible for this war (Biden and his clowns, NEOCONS that were quick to jump on a war and anti-Russian bandwagon / certain political and economic interests) will attack Trump on the concessions made to end it.

People should tell these folks to “shut up.” They had their chance and were at the wheel, they had 3 years time, and >$200 billion from the US alone.


14 posted on 08/13/2025 8:58:34 PM PDT by Red6
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To: Brian Griffin
Only Ukrainians authorized by Ukrainian law should negotiate for Ukraine.

This isn't how realpolitik works. Big powers always negotiate the end of major wars: WW2, WW1, Napoleanic Wars, Seven Years War, Thirty Years War, etc., etc.

15 posted on 08/13/2025 9:23:12 PM PDT by Right_Wing_Madman
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To: Brian Griffin
Nice sources. Maybe you should find out why Victoria Nuland spent 5 billion US dollars to launch a color revolution to overthrow the constitutionally elected president of Ukraine in 2014. Color revolutions is our favorite way to oust foreign leaders we don't like.

.

Victoria Nuland of the US State Department handing out treats to rioters during the US funded color revolution in Ukraine in 2014.

16 posted on 08/13/2025 9:25:54 PM PDT by Karl Spooner
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To: little jeremiah

There are only two outcomes ( to those that have been following closely).

1) The little green goblin cedes the ethnic Russian territories.

2) Ukraine ceases to exist as a Nation.

For the sake of a long lasting Peace, St Z must cede the ethnic Russian territories, the Russian Donbass has always been Russian…..he better get busy before he gets the Mussolini treatment.


17 posted on 08/13/2025 9:26:50 PM PDT by delta7
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To: little jeremiah

Trump has captured DC, and he is moving to deploy the NG to NYC, Chicago, and other major cities. Is this about crime or something major about to happen? Trump is preparing to maintain control in a financial reset.

BTC, Gold, Money Supply, Stocks, Housing Prices, CPI 4%, and the National Debt - all at all time highs.

What is up.

NATO/USA gambled in Ukraine. No one ever thought Russia would survive, let alone win. There was not game-planning for such a situation. The US is faced with a military that cannot fight a 10 day conventional war, and it has lobbed conventional munitions into Russia - which if Russia returned the conventional favor the US and EU would be toast.


18 posted on 08/13/2025 9:29:16 PM PDT by Jumper
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To: Brian Griffin

The EU and Ukraine are vassal states of the US. We even go so far as to pick the leaders they vote for by meddling in their internal affairs.

The American Taxpayer has paid all the salaries of every Ukrainian public sector employee (police, military, teachers, garbage collectors, government employees) and we pay their Pension Plans too.

Zelinski is an actor. He is our paid actor.

If I understand Zelinski correctly, he owes the USA not one Cent or Dime for all the US Military assistance provided to Ukraine.

The ungrateful bastard can go to hell. We own him, his countrymen and his military.

Trump can try to do what’s best for the US, and the hell with the British too. The Brits and Zelinski deserve one another, and we can break free of the British empire once and for all.


19 posted on 08/13/2025 9:37:57 PM PDT by Jumper
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To: Jumper
The EU and Ukraine are vassal states of the US. We even go so far as to pick the leaders they vote for by meddling in their internal affairs.

Once upon a time we did it in Russia, too.


20 posted on 08/13/2025 9:40:03 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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