Does Donald Trump have a secret plan to end the war in Ukraine? History Says He Is Lying When he ran for president in 1968, Richard Nixon implied that he had a “secret plan” to end the war in Vietnam.
This plan was light on details; it was, after all, a secret. But once Nixon took office, the “secret plan” never really went into effect, with Nixon escalating the war in his first term. The U.S. would not withdraw from Vietnam until 1973. Nixon did not use the phrase “secret plan” publicly, although he shared his plans in a private meeting with editors during that year’s campaign.
Donald Trump and the Secret Ukraine Plan?
Now, more than 50 years later, former President Donald Trump is making similar claims about the war in Ukraine.
In a recent interview at Mar-a-Lago with the Right Side Broadcasting Network, Trump talked about how he could end the war with relative ease.
“Under your administration, there was world peace,” the interviewer began, with a somewhat questionable interpretation of history. “We didn’t have all this chaos in the world.” Then he asked Trump what his solution is for the conflict.
“First of all, it should have never started, it would have never started had I been president,” Trump said of the invasion. “There was no chance of this war starting, and frankly, I don’t think Putin wanted to do it, I think he was sort of forced in by the statements being made by Biden.”
“With that being said, I think, it can be negotiated, I think, within 24 hours,” Trump said. “It really has to be done from the office of the president. And you have to get them both in a room and there are things you can say to each one of them, which I won’t reveal now, which will guarantee that this war will end immediately. And they have to do it.”
Donald Trump added that “far more people are being killed than what they’re talking about.” He also called for an audit of the money that has gone for weapons to Ukraine.
The former president did not state precisely what the terms of such a peace would look like, which land would be controlled by which country, and other points of contention in the conflict.
Would his plan involve Trump merely trying to convince Ukraine to give up its sovereignty?
A “Ukraine peace plan,” pushed by the likes of Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, that would have essentially accomplished the Russian goal of an “independent” Luhansk and Donetsk, was a point of contention in the era of the Mueller Report and the quest to prove Russian collusion with Trump. Elon Musk, of all people, drew fire for suggesting a similar plan on Twitter last fall, with Ukrainian government figures denouncing him directly, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
MSNBC was skeptical of Trump’s claims in a Maddowblog post this week.
“There’s no need for us to play games here. Trump obviously doesn’t have a secret plan. He also doesn’t have any credibility on the issue, especially after having described Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine as ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy,’” the site said.
“FIRST COME THE TANKS, THEN COME THE NUKES. Get this crazy war ended, NOW. So easy to do!,” Trump had said on Truth Social in late January.
Trump’s Wishful Thinking
Trump’s plans in the past have been compared to Nixon’s “secret plan” before. The comparison has been made to Trump’s talk of health care reform, in which he promised during the 2016 campaign to repeal Obamacare and replace it with “something amazing.” Such plans were always vague and never came to fruition once Donald Trump was actually in office. The comparison has also been made to Trump’s vague plans to defeat ISIS, also touted in the 2016 race.
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Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
