Trump thinks he can do to Ukraine what he's been doing to construction contractors for the past 40 years.

If Trump doesn't save Putin within the next couple of months, the Russian dictator's domestic issues will turn his focus inward, requiring his army to crack skulls on the streets of Russian cities rather than in Ukraine.

The problem for Trump now is that support for Ukraine among the US electorate is only increasing as Putin's crimes become more horrific and the Russian propaganda machine is slowly dismantled.

2. The Trump administration sees Ukraine only as an obstacle to promises of Russian riches. They need sanctions lifted to get their hands on it. How this segment of Putin's war ends doesn't matter — anything to “normalize” relations sufficiently so that Kushner and the gang can freely do business.