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Impressed by Ukraine’s Battlefield Gains, Trump Warms to Zelensky
The Wall Street Journal ^ | July 27, 2026 8:02 pm ET | Meridith McGraw , Annie Linskey and Robbie Gramer

Posted on 07/28/2026 12:27:25 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Ukrainian leader met with Trump on Tuesday at the White House

WASHINGTON—For more than a year, President Trump insisted in private conversations with advisers that Ukraine was losing the war.

But in recent weeks, the president has expressed fresh optimism about Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, according to people who have spoken to him. Trump, the people said, has been impressed with Zelensky’s resilience as he takes the fight deep into Russian territory.

The shift comes after several meetings on the sidelines of global summits where the Ukrainian president has tried to charm Trump, the people said, part of a concerted campaign by European leaders to improve the relationship. Trump has come to admire Ukraine’s drone industry, especially its ability to defend against the same drones the U.S. faces in the Iran war, the people said.

Trump, a senior administration official said, likes winners—and Zelensky, in the U.S. president’s estimation, is increasingly looking like one. 

“We’ve actually developed a good relationship. It’s hard to believe, right?” Trump said during a July meeting with Zelensky in Turkey.

It is a remarkable change of fortunes for Zelensky, whose relationship with Trump once seemed irredeemably damaged. Last year, Trump called Zelensky a dictator, criticized his leadership and berated him during a tense Oval Office meeting. Days after the meeting, Trump paused all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and he subsequently balked at sending more assistance to the beleaguered country. 

The next test of the relationship came Tuesday, as the two leaders met in Washington for the first time since October. Zelensky is in town for the funeral for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Whether Trump’s newfound esteem for Zelensky will endure is an open question. People close to Trump...


(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: annielinskey; anonymoussources; meridithmcgraw; overthecoffeetable; robbiegramer; wallstreetjournal; wallstreeturinal

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1 posted on 07/28/2026 12:27:25 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The war in Iran has shut down the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia

This has really helped bolster the Ukrainian defense forces and is a huge blow to Russia


2 posted on 07/28/2026 12:31:10 PM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
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To: rdcbn1

Looks like Russia will be cornered into using nuclear weapons sooner rather than later.


3 posted on 07/28/2026 12:32:26 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Israel First. America... who cares?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

4 posted on 07/28/2026 12:35:18 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Trump, a senior administration official said, likes winners—

Uhhhhhhh....I think President Trump himself said that.

5 posted on 07/28/2026 12:35:40 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all. )
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To: Magnum44

6 posted on 07/28/2026 12:38:32 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Israel First. America... who cares?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Cornered” implies that their backs are against the wall and have no other options. Ukraine is cornered. Russia could always withdraw to its own territory.


7 posted on 07/28/2026 12:41:32 PM PDT by not in the club
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To: not in the club

Because history begins on a day of your choosing.


8 posted on 07/28/2026 12:42:30 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Israel First. America... who cares?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
We or Israel would then nuke Iran and the Chinese would pull Russia's economic lifeline. Plus the gamble of an escalating nuclear confrontation.

Vlad may hard pressed enough to try, but I doubt his subordinates would go along.

More likely we'd hear Swan Lake on Radio Moscow.

9 posted on 07/28/2026 12:44:06 PM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens" )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Maybe Russia will use those 20 foot combat robots like you think are used in Hawaii, that would be better than using nuclear weapons to invade your neighbors.


10 posted on 07/28/2026 12:44:48 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
What "battlefield gains"? I swear the western media is trying to lead entire countries down a path of complete delusion. Yes, Ukrainian drones are doing damage to Russian ships and warehouses and refineries. That has not translated into a change on the battlefront. The Russian are continuing their advances. And while western media cherry-picks their news of Ukrainian drone strikes, they don't mention offsetting news like the destruction of the Odessa-region ports and the shutdown of shipping to Ukraine, the elimination or exhaustion of substantial portions of the Ukrainian air defense network leading to increased strikes, or the elimination of the Ukrainian air defense HQ in a strike earlier this month.

People can get a better sense of the war viewing the daily updates from the war mappers like Military Summary Channel. Regardless of their personal views, the war mappers track daily changes on the front and remained tethered to reality since any mistakes they make must eventually be corrected or they face ridicule.

11 posted on 07/28/2026 12:44:50 PM PDT by EnderWiggin1970
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
according to people who have spoken to him


12 posted on 07/28/2026 12:46:59 PM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

more of the standard, “narrative forming” we see from deep-state media CNN, NY Times, WSJ, etc....

note its all “anonymous sources” and “people close to the President have said.”

How true is this BS? 10%? 50%? 100%? Who knows....

Sadly, Americans all need to learn “how to read the state-run media” just like Soviet and Chinese citizens have.


13 posted on 07/28/2026 12:47:10 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: EnderWiggin1970

The American side in the war with Russia and North Korea, is holding on pretty well though.


14 posted on 07/28/2026 12:50:44 PM PDT by ansel12
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To: EnderWiggin1970

Yep

Ukraine gained SOME (lightly defended) ground back they lost last fall in Southern Areas but now the Russians are slowly advancing there again

Meanwhile Russian has been advancing in the heavily fortified Donbas region and now in the Kharkiv areas

What battlefield gains is Trump impressed with?


15 posted on 07/28/2026 12:55:07 PM PDT by janetjanet998 (Please don’t use google products, especially YouTube )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I don’t believe Trump is any warmer than that day that “No Cards Z” confronted Trump...on National TV.


16 posted on 07/28/2026 1:05:53 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: EnderWiggin1970

Look again. Although negligible, the net change in territory in the past two months has favored Ukraine.


17 posted on 07/28/2026 1:07:12 PM PDT by Petrosius
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Ukraine’s Battlefield Gains? Who’s advising Trump?


18 posted on 07/28/2026 1:12:57 PM PDT by McGruff
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To: Petrosius
I'm not seeing it. This claim was made here a few weeks ago and I've made a point of paying attention since then. There was a Ukrainian counterattack this spring that recaptured some recently capture ground north of Crimea, but the Russians are retaking that ground in recent weeks. The only other basis I can see for that claim is when the Ukrainians made an abortive push on the Zaporizhya (sp?) nuclear power plant, slogging through the swamps to the north. Nothing came of that effort, but western analysts might have claimed the swampland that had been no-man's land as a Ukrainian gain. I doubt they still have it manned; swampland strikes me as a terrible place to be stuck in a drone warfare era.

Other than that the daily updates I see show continued slow Russian gains all along the front as they close in on the final "fortress belt" cities.

19 posted on 07/28/2026 1:14:13 PM PDT by EnderWiggin1970
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To: Sacajaweau
He looks warmer, and that offer of letting Ukraine make Patriot missiles seems warmer.


20 posted on 07/28/2026 1:15:59 PM PDT by ansel12
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