To the editor:

When running for president last year, Donald Trump repeatedly said he could end the war in Ukraine quickly. He actually frequently said “On day one” of his presidency, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that this was hyperbole. He never gave specifics about how he’d end it, but once he’d won it was just a matter of time before the day came when he’d finally have to show his cards. That moment came at 10:46 a.m. on Jan. 22, just two days after his inauguration, when he posted this ultimatum on Truth Social:

“Settle now and STOP (sic) this ridiculous war!” he wrote speaking directly to Vladimir Putin, or he’d, “have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes (sic,) Tariffs (sic,) and Sanctions (sic,) on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

Superfluous capitalizations aside, this is the stupidest, most hollow threat ever leveled by a sitting U.S. president. Let’s break it down, shall we?

First off, what “other participating countries?” Does he have an expanded “Coalition of the Willing” of cooperating partner nations who’ll also impose new sanctions and tariffs on Russian goods? It seems unlikely since most of the civilized world thinks he’s an embarrassing buffoon. Did he just bluff?

Second, we already have sanctions on Russia. For more than a year, the U.S. and our allies, such as India, have been blocking payments to Russia for oil deliveries. Yachts and petroleum tankers have been seized and impounded by EU countries, and they’ve stopped taking Russian oil. The UK and other allies have frozen Russian accounts. The sanctions have been massive, and Russia’s economy is on the brink of failure. Trump wants to stay this course, so apparently, he feels Biden’s plan was working.

But what about tariffs and taxes? Well, first, that’s the same thing. Taxes paid on imported goods are called tariffs, and to have them you must currently be accepting imports from said country. In 2021, over a year before Russia invaded Ukraine, the US imported $30.8 billion worth of goods from Russia.

In 2023, due to sanctions, that was down to just $4.9 billion. Numbers for 2024 haven’t yet been released, but they’re surely even lower. There’s currently a 35-percent duty charged on all goods coming from Russia.

Thirdly, he followed this bluff by undermining his own position suggesting that Ukraine should have never fought back in the first place. Which, by the way, makes me curious how he’d handle an invasion here. I suspect it’d be less “Red Dawn” and more “Man in the High Castle.”

So, in summation, what Trump’s suggesting is sanctions, which we’re already doing, and possibly putting a higher tariff on the meager Russian imports we currently accept (mostly fertilizer) which’ll be paid by domestic importers and passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices, because that’s how tariffs and commerce operate.

Sorry Ukraine. Good luck Poland. You’re probably next.

J. David Core

Toronto