The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Warning on Russia and NATO

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

At the United Nations, President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin is “stalled” in Ukraine and called on NATO to cut off Russia’s oil and gas revenue. Trump, who once argued he could make a deal with Putin, now says the war has become a costly stalemate. As the war drags on, is Trump right that NATO can force Russia to the table? Victor Davis Hanson explains Trump’s evolving strategy, Ukraine’s military limits, and what a real path to peace could look like on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “Donald Trump said something—so we don't know where that area to negotiate is. But it's somewhere. But then Donald Trump said, I think, wisely, he said: But we're going to make sure Ukraine doesn't lose. And then he said they can take, as I said, they can take back all the land. They can't. We saw the 2023 offensive. This is World War I. And all of the assets are on Russia's side. “They don't have the manpower. They don't have the wherewithal. What they do have are brilliant fighters, a sophisticated drone industry, that if they are entrenched and they can hold a line where they are and they can selectively hit oil refineries and munitions plants in Russia, in Western Russia, then they can make it so costly…that Russia will have to come to the bargaining table.” 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com(0:00) Trump’s Shift on Ukraine (1:52) Trump’s Perspective (2:45) Putin’s Invasion (4:16) Realities of the Conflict (7:18) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk. Business. There's been a lot of news that Donald Trump apparently has changed his position on Ukraine. He addressed the United Nations recently, and he said that Vladimir Putin is stalled. What's going on? Donald Trump came into office thinking that Joe Biden's lack of a strategy, Joe Biden's demonization of Putin as a dictator was short-sighted. And then Donald Trump said, I know Putin, he fears and respects me, so I can cut a deal.

What Trump did not calibrate, though, very quickly was that Vladimir Putin went into Ukraine, and he is in a slog, a morass, a World War I trench mess. And Donald Trump now has seen that, and he says to himself and to now the United Nations, we will starve Russia out and we will all combine and we can win. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily. signal. There's been a lot of news that Donald Trump apparently has changed his position on Ukraine. He addressed the United Nations recently, and he said that Vladimir Putin is stalled, that he's been fighting aimlessly, and that if he continues his air intrusions, whether by planes or drones,

into NATO member countries, they might have to shoot them down. He's also said that if the Europeans will stop buying Russian oil and gas and start supporting Ukraine. Ukraine might be able to take back most of its territory lost after February 24th, 2022, although he didn't intend Crimea or all of the Donbos. What's going on? What's going on? Donald Trump came into office thinking that Joe Biden's lack of a strategy, Joe Biden's demonization of Putin as a dictator or a murder true, but you never really insult your future interlocutor, was short-sighted. And because as president, Donald Trump said, well, you know, he went in under George Bush

into Georgia Ossetia, because Bush was mired in Iraq and projected maybe an image unintentionally of weakness. And then there was Barack Obama and the hot mic and soul, you know, tell Vladimir I'll be flexible. The next thing you know, he's gone into Dombasa and Crimea, and then with Biden, he tried to take care. But he didn't try to take it under me, Donald Trump. And then Donald Trump said, I know Putin, he fears and respects me, so I can cut a deal. What Trump did not calibrate, though, very quickly was that in the worst mistake of his political life, Vladimir Putin went into Ukraine, and he is in a slog, a morass, a World War I.

trench mess. He has lost over a million Russian dead wounded and missing or captured. And he thinks that he can wear down the Ukrainians that have one-fourth of population, one-tenth the economy, and one-thirtieth the area. And so he will not stop. And Donald Trump now has seen that, and he says to himself and to now the United Nations, well, if NATO will stop, stop buying oil and gas, I will start imposing a secondary boycott against China and Russia. Excuse me, China and India, and we will starve their income, and they'll have to make an agreement. And then all of NATO will, I guess, be self-sufficient in oil, either from the Middle East, or they'll have to develop their own natural gas, which there are some deposits they've ignored in continental Europe,

and they can buy liquefied national gas from the United States. And therefore, we will starve Russia out and we will all combine and we can win. And then he said something very controversially. He said, and they can get all the land back that they lost after February 24th of 2022. As I said, I don't think that's going to happen. Vladimir Putin has, as I said before, an imaginary line of which he thinks, if he gets to this point, He goes back to his controllers, the oligarchs, the military, and he says to them, yes, I lost a million to a million and a half Russians. But look how much land I got.

I took our borders and I advanced them all the way here. Not just Crimea is institutionalized, not just Dombos's institutionalized, not just Ukraine will never be in NATO, but I've got some very valuable territory. And now we'll have a DMZ like North Korea. But I've got to get a little bit more territory. And so we don't know where that land is, but when he gets to that point, then he will feel that he will not be the throne, murdered, or replaced for the biggest blunder in modern Russian history. But Donald Trump said something. So we don't know where that area to negotiate is, but it's somewhere. But then Donald Trump said, I think wisely, he said, but we're going to make sure Ukraine doesn't lose.

And then he said, they can take, as I said, they can take back all the land. They can't. We saw the 2023 offensive. This is World War I, and all of the assets are on Russia's side, and it's trench warfare. And the last time they tried to, in this new type of drone war and artillery war advance with armor, with American advisors who had been plotting courses of offensive, it was a total catastrophe. They don't have the manpower. They don't have the wherewithal. What? They do have are brilliant fighters, a sophisticated drone industry, that if they are entrenched and they can hold a line where they are and they can selectively hit oil refineries and munitions plants in Russia, in Western Russia, then they can make it so costly in a Som or Pashtendale or Verdun-like resistance, that Russia will have to come to the bargaining table. In other words, they can bounce Russia back and back and back, because Putin apparently thinks he needs more land to justify this blunder and get a peace.

And if the Ukrainians can hold fast and be rearmed and make it so costly that he doesn't get more land, there will be peace. But please, Mr. President, let's not get the idea. that you're going to take a country that's lost 12 million people who have fled the country and its economy is devastated and the Europeans are terrified and think we're going to make a huge armored offensive and go back into all of occupied Ukraine and take it back. It's not going to happen and it will end up like the disasters of World War I in the trenches or something like Stalingrad.

Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Sea. Thank you for tuning in to the Daily Signal. Please like, share, and subscribe to be notified for more content like this. You can also check out my own website at victorhansen.com and subscribe for exclusive features in addition.