Trump the unpredictable

President Donald Trump has never been known for consistency, but his latest pronouncement on Ukraine takes his mercurial tendencies to a new height.

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Eight months into his second term, he now claims that Ukraine, with NATOS help, can drive Russia out of the territory it has occupied for more than three years. Coming from a man who has alternately declared Ukraine doomed and Russia invincible, this sudden optimism is less strategy than whim. Trump’ foreign policy has always been transactional, shaped more by grievance and impulse than by analysis. Former aides confirm what has long been evident: his positions often arise from personal pique or the feeling that someone has disrespected him. What he says today may have no bearing on what he believes tomorrow. Allies are left bewildered, adversaries take note of the chaos, and America’s credibility erodes further.