Nothing is going right for Trump in the three conflicts in which the US is directly or indirectly involved, in Iran, Yemen, and Ukraine. He is desperate for a foreign policy win that he can brag about before the elections, given that he and the Republicans are getting hammered on the economy.
In Iran, the US is in a stalemate (despite occasional flareups of the conflict), with the Iranians unwilling to accept terms that are acceptable to the US and the US not having the offensive or defensive military capabilities to force them to do so. Short of sending in ground troops, a fateful Rubicon if there ever was one, he seems to have no cards left to play. Of course, he could always use nuclear weapons and with him one can never rule out the unthinkable, because he and his advisors and Republicans in general have long since left the city of the sane.
In Yemen, there seemed to be a sort-of deal between Ansar Allah (aka Houthis) and the US that gave the former some control over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in Red Sea and in return they were allowing some ships to pass through but that seems to risk breaking down with an exchange of missile attacks between Ansar All and Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh airport suffering serious damage.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said a projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile struck the same terminal and killed 12 people.
There were no immediate details about the latest strike on the King Khalid International Airport complex for terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights. Saturday’s missile attack was the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation since the Iran war began, with another 300 people wounded, some critically. The airport was still closed Sunday.
The Saudis seem to be short of weaponry too and Trump is said to be considering coming to their aid, but that carries its own risks.
The sharp escalation in the new front in that war threatens to draw in greater U.S. military involvement, as President Donald Trump has said he is weighing joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no immediate White House comment Sunday.
…Trump on Saturday also said he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen and further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. The rebels seized key areas along the strait last month and the Saudi-led coalition has been trying to seize them back.
But what can Trump do? Bomb Houthi sites on behalf of the Saudis, which would undoubtedly result in Ansar Allah attacking shipping in the Red Sea? Send defensive weaponry to protect vulnerable Saudi sites? The US can barely defend its own bases in the region already, let alone assist the Saudis. Furthermore, any such moves would result in further shipping disruptions and send gas prices, already high, through the roof just before the miid-terms.
To try and get a ‘win’, Trump seems to have used the one lever that he thinks he has and that is his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin and decided to throw Ukraine under the bus, saying that he has agreed to a partial cease-fire deal with Putin. You would think that the leader of the country in which that war is being fought would have been involved in making this deal but Volodymyr Zelensky seems to have been totally blindsided.
Donald Trump has announced an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, apparently without consulting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said the deal to stop long-range attacks was “news to me”.
In a social media post, the US president claimed the two sides had reached an agreement. “Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” he wrote on Truth Social.
He offered no further details. Zelenskyy said he was surprised by the announcement but would agree to it if Vladimir Putin did the same. “If President Trump negotiated it with Putin – please tell us when the ceasefire begins. We are ready and we will accept it,” the Ukrainian president told the Axios website.
Earlier, Zelenskyy rebuffed Trump’s demand made on Saturday that Kyiv stop bombing Russian oil refineries. Zelenskyy said Moscow had to first halt its own “brutal” attacks on his country’s energy infrastructure.
What seems to have precipitated Trump’s sudden actions is worry about high gas prices and the effect that Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries has on them. He has made a deal with Russia to import diesel fuel, which required the lifting of sanctions, a move which angered Zelensky.
The fast-moving row between Washington and Kyiv began on Friday when Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Russian diesel exports. He said the move would reduce global and domestic fuel prices before next month’s US midterm elections.
A furious Zelenskyy called the decision “weak” and said it would generate “billions” in extra revenue for Putin, enabling him to wage war “even more intensely”. An equally irate Trump said Zelenskyy should “damn well stop” hitting Russian refineries. Ukraine needed a “new leader”, he said on Saturday.
Trump clearly wants Zelensky gone and replaced by someone who would be more willing to capitulate. He berates him repeatedly and publicly and demands that he calls elections.
The head of Ukraine’s foreign affairs committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, said Trump’s “bullying” demand for Zelenskyy to quit had strengthened him at home “paradoxically”, after recent damaging corruption scandals. “Putin’s plan is to decapitate Zelenskyy and remove him as a wartime leader. Trump is siding with Putin,” Merezhko said.
The leaders of Iran, Ansar Allah, and Russia can all see the writing on the wall, that the US military is stretched thin, that Trump is getting hammered domestically and has undermined traditional allies who could give him support, and is now desperate, and that they can put the squeeze on him, even if they are not coordinating their actions. Putin has clearly done so and won a major concession.
Russian farmers don’t get enough diesel. The Russian army is gobbling it up for the Ukraine war. And with Ukrainian drones increasingly decimating the output of Russian refineries, the USA probably will get homeopathic doses of Russian diesel at most.
he pulled some hijinks to send millions of people on medicare an extra 90 bucks this election month, recently rolled out those “trump accounts” where the gov throw a thousand fucking dollars in if you open a cheetolini-themed investment account for your newborn child. it’s election buying season, babes.
I must say, Trump never lets up. Just when you think he cannot possibly get any more disgusting, out he comes with an absolute whopper.
This latest concession to the criminal-in-chief Vlad may take the Golden Biscuit as the most revolting, craven move he has made in a long time and that’s saying something.
Being what he is, he’ll never realize how pathetically weak this latest blunder makes him look. I’d say “pitiful”, but who’s going to waste pity on this bastard?
Trump is desperate for a ‘win’ before mid-terms
Maybe his caddies can arrange a hole-in-one at his favorite golf course.
Natalie will clap her hands and give him a hug, and big strong men will come up with tears in their eyes saying they’ve never seen anything like it!
I believe at some level Trump’s problem with Zelensky isn’t about capitulation. It’s that Trump looks at the war as a business negotiation and neither Zelensky or Putin do. For the population of Ukraine this is an existintial war, one where they can’t give up ground for some promises because Russia has already proved they wont’ keep them. For Putin it’s about power and Russian strength, not money. As long as Putin holds on to the reigns of power when the war ends he can recover the money.
Trump and his negotiators are probably trying to cook some deal that involves money to the leaders in exchange for ending the war and neither side cares. Putin however is willing to simply lie and play friendly with Trump, he knows how to manipulate Trump and what Trump wants to hear.
The Orange Turd (TOT) is a complete moron. He couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper bag. He has ruined every relationship with what was once our allies. He has kissed the ass of every dictator on the planet. His claim that because he had an uncle at MIT, he is high IQ is total bullshit. He is the stupidest person to have ever been elected as president, or maybe any office.
I’m neither from nor in the USA, but sometimes in idle moments I wonder who among the living I wouldn’t vote for rather than TOT if I was forced to make that choice. At the moment, the only two certainties below him on my list are Putin and Netenyahu. Most people, even people I despise, would be way better. Adam Sandler, David Miscavige, Boris Johnson, pretty much any random mobster or druggie, even the billionaires; probably even Elon Musk! What about Kim Jong Un? Tommy Robinson? Hegseth? Eurgh to all three, but even they are not actually a sure thing… XD
To stop the war, the new leader is needed in Russia, not Ukraine.
As for Bab el-Mandeb, it isn’t just about oil like Hormuz. All traffic between Europe and Asia that passes through the Suez Canal also passes through Bab el-Mandeb. Blocking it will mess up global economy. To save it, the new leader is needed in the USA.
Jörg @ #1 makes the point I’m not seeing nearly enough -- Russia doesn’t have enough diesel for their own needs, so where is this supply supposed to come from? Especially considering that we’re just going into winter, and I believe that heating oil is widely used for home heating… Sanctions or no sanctions, and regardless of how much Putin would like the money, you can’t export what you don’t have, and any exports they can manage will take away from critical domestic consumption.
I suspect this is another of Trump’s signature deals -- by which I mean a big announcement that never actually comes to fruition.
This whole “diesel deal” is just stupid, from the deal itself to the reporting on it. According to multiple reliable sources, the US consumes about 4 million barrels of diesel per day. That translates to a little more than a half million tons. So tRump’s big deal is to add a little over a half day of diesel fuel for the first month, a day’s use for the second month, and two days use over some unspecified number of months following that. That’s like saying you’ve solved global hunger because everyone is going to get a Pez for the next three months.
I can imagine tRump thinking “Ooh, 300,000 tons? That sounds like a lot! That’ll really bring down prices!” Not in a nation of nearly 350 million people, you ignorant dolt.
Trumb lied that there will be a cease fire, and Putin lied he has diesel to sell.
If Trumb needs diesel, he can buy it from India. If he buys enough, there won’t be anything left for Putin.
JM: “Trump and his negotiators are probably trying to cook some deal that involves money to the leaders in exchange for ending the war and neither side cares.”
The international operations of Lukoil, from oil fields to gas stations. They must be sold to someone outside Russia. Kurshner watches the interests of the Trump clan, and Witkoff of the oil sheiks.
P.S. If you have noticed a decrease of trolls, thank the Ukrainians.
https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/12/did-ukrainian-strikes-on-yandex-data-centres-cause-russian-bot-activity-to-plummet
I f Russia has diesel to sell, why do they need to buy from South Korea?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/06/oil-tankers-south-korea-russia-ukraine-war
Maybe the plan is to resell a trickle of diesel from South Korea to the US? Will Trump be asked why the US didn’t just buy straight from South Korea?
Maybe whoever made the offer made it in gallons, or even liters, knowing that Trump is innumerate, and impressed by big numbers
trumpy told us all we need to know about the diesel deal.
trumpy is assputins great big lump of human Play-Doh. He was clearly told that the deal was contingent on Ukraine ceasing attacks on Russian refineries. Being Play-Doh, trumpy extrudes predictably, so the world is presented the energy infrastructure ceasefire because that is assputins goal.
It was never about actually supplying diesel.
Oh! So it’s another market manipulation scam! Make trades before Zelenskyy asks WTF Trump is talking about and the façade collapses.
Owlmirror ^
I don’t see this episode as one of market manipulation. It rather smacks of assputins desperation at the effectiveness of Ukraine’s legitimate self defence causing fuel shortages that are giving Russians cause to question their dear leader.
trumpy is just the useful idiot (again) because he is. And assputin also knows that gullible USinsanians will eagerly lap the bullshit up.
There are about 350 000 000 people in the USA. So 300 000 000 kg. of Diesel fuel works out at 857 grams per person. With a density of about 840 kg/m³, that’s just over a litre a head.