Ultimatum For 50 Days: Three Reasons Why Trump Started Pressuring Putin
- 15.07.2025, 9:48
- 3,268

The president decided to "escalate to de-escalate."
U.S. President Donald Trump has dramatically changed his rhetoric toward Russia. He had at least three good reasons for doing so.
That's what journalist David Ignatius, who covers international politics, wrote in a column for The Washington Post, citing his own informed sources in American politics.
First, Trump believed Putin was disrespecting him by pretending to be ready for peace but ignoring the US president's call for a ceasefire.
Second, he saw the effectiveness of U.S. military force in using B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles against Iran.
Third, he believed that Putin would negotiate only when threatened with the use of greater force.
"As the Russians like to say, Trump chose to 'escalate to de-escalate.'" Trump made the right choice in recognizing that Putin would not make concessions without increasing pressure. But the president also chose a course of escalation whose risks are unknown," the journalist noted.
Interestingly, the one question Trump was reluctant to answer during his Oval Office briefing on Monday was this: if Putin decides to escalate further, how far would you be willing to go in response?"
"Don't ask me that question, "How far?" - Trump replied sharply, "I just want to settle the war."
Ignatius writes, if Trump can make this new pressure campaign work, he may deserve a prominent Nobel Prize. However, the journalist cautions that "there may be more explosives on the road to peace."