Donald Trump on Wednesday teased that his plan to end Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is to put tariffs on Russian goods and put sanctions on the country, the latter of which the United States is already doing.
“If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, following a lie-filled screed about the “Russia Hoax” and his great relationship with brutal Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
“Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with!” he added. “We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!”
Tariffing his way to peace is not likely to work. That’s because Russia and the United States are barely trading at all right now because of the war.
Ukrainian servicemen collect damaged ammunition on the road at the front line near Chasiv Yar town, in Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Jan. 10, 2025.
In 2024, the U.S. imported almost $2.9 billion in Russian goods—down from $29.6 billion in 2021, the year before the war started, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s a 90% decline.
The U.S. is also already imposing punishing sanctions on Russia, and that hasn’t stopped Putin from continuing his deadly war to seize land in Europe.
On Jan. 10, the Biden administration announced new sanctions on Russian oil producers, oil-carrying vessels, and Russian energy officials, targeting Russia’s biggest form of income.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” now-former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a news release at the time. “This action builds on, and strengthens, our focus since the beginning of the war on disrupting the Kremlin’s energy revenues, including through the G7+ price cap launched in 2022. With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports.”
Of course, during the 2024 election cycle, Trump promised to end the war before he even took the oath of office—something that obviously didn’t happen. He also said he would end the war within his first 24 hours in the White House, something that also didn’t happen.
Russia has been mocking Trump since he took office.
RT, Russia’s state-owned propaganda network, posted a video of Trump falling asleep at the National Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday.
“Trump must be tired after signing all those executive orders, deporting all those people and abolishing all those genders,” RT wrote alongside the video. “Melania [Trump] makes sure he doesn’t pull a Biden and fall asleep,”
After Trump released this super-detailed plan to get the war to stop, RT will probably mock him more.
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