Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have very different views on how to end the war in Ukraine. We learned this on Monday when Macron and Trump sat down in the White House to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine, which was started by Putin in 2022.

The two leaders couldn’t be any different. They are 180º opposite when it comes to acquiescing to the needs of Vladimir Putin. Macron put the current philosophy of negotiating with Putin in perspective perfectly:

“I stopped my discussion with President Putin after Bucha and the war crimes because I considered that, I mean, we had nothing to get from him in that time.” – Emmanuel Macron

Macron knows that Putin will take the rest of his life to push West with expansionist plans. There is no downside for the Russian leader to keep pressing, then take a step back, then press again. Putin is 72yo, and he will be around for at least another decade in good form. Probably two. He is not going away.

Trump thinks he can do a deal, like one of his stupid fake real estate deals. (The Trump org hardly builds anything, they mainly license the “Trump” name to developers.) Becasue of Trump’s foolish approach, there is a good chance that the negotiations between the US and Russia collapse, and soon.

Europe is becoming organized and is developing their military and diplomatic approach for Ukraine. Macron, Merz, Starmer, and Duda all want to establish credible military defenses as a security guarantee against Putin’s westward push.

Trump only wants a “win” pinned on his reputation. One that feeds his ego. Like a big medal of honor. Trump needs to get a bad deal for Ukraine. He needs to be seen as a “dealmaker” with the international criminal Putin. There is no upside for Trump to safeguard Ukraine at the expense of Putin.

The Europeans might have to go it alone without US defense guarantees if Trump insists on extracting a price from Ukraine for security. Especially if Trump won’t push back on Putin’s refusal to stop fighting.