Donald J. Trump’s promise to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours, “before I even become president,” proved to be hyperbole.
After they win elections and move into the White House, plenty of presidents at some point eventually break a campaign promise. Donald J. Trump will not even wait that long. He will break an important campaign promise the moment he takes the oath of office.
While stumping for a return to power in the fall, Mr. Trump repeatedly made a sensational if implausible pledge with profound geopolitical consequences: He would broker an end to the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. And not just in 24 hours — he would do so before being sworn in as president.
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Mr. Trump vowed in a June rally. “I will get it settled before I even become president,” he said during his televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in September. “I will settle Russia-Ukraine while I’m president-elect,” he said again during a podcast in October.
This was no offhand comment, no one-off that he did not repeat. It was a staple of his public argument when it came to the biggest land war in Europe since the fall of Nazi Germany. Yet he not only has failed to keep his promise; he has also made no known serious effort to resolve the war since his election in November, and the fighting will still be raging even after noon on Monday when President-elect Trump becomes President Trump again.
“Wars can’t be settled by bombast,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said in an interview. “And the missing link in his thinking is the failure to understand that Ukrainians will reach the settlement only if they are at the negotiating table from a position of strength. He’s in effect undermined their position, and that’s one reason why he hasn’t reached a solution before his inauguration.”
