As U-turns go, it is a game-changer.
Donald Trump has swung from urgent Ukraine to give up territory to suggesting it is in a position to win all its land again.
Sure, that is the identical Mr Trump who threw Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the White Home in February and introduced Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in from the chilly final month.
European leaders had flown to Washington en masse in August to induce warning in his dealings with Mr Putin.
“He let me down,” Mr Trump informed reporters throughout final week’s state go to to the UK.
The US president’s dramatic change of coronary heart is the end result of a outstanding three days in his diary.
Whether or not he is in entrance of a microphone or posting on social media, it is Donald Trump versus the world.
A string of daring remarks – his hatred for opponents, his unscientific recommendation about autism, and a fiery handle on the United Nations Basic Meeting – revealed the extent to which he thrives on controversy.
At a memorial service for the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the president departed from holy worship to launch an unholy assault.
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Trump: Historical past will keep in mind Charlie Kirk
“I hate my opponents,” he declared, simply moments after Mr Kirk’s widow Erika had publicly expressed forgiveness for her husband’s killer.
The president then turned the order of service into a listing of his political achievements – speaking crime, immigration, tariffs and touting “one of the biggest announcements in medical history”.
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Trump’s ‘not so cautious’ autism claims
The next day, he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”.
His assertion that using acetaminophen (marketed as Tylenol or Paracetamol) throughout being pregnant will increase the chance of autism is very contested.
There have been numerous jaw-dropping moments, from his incapability to pronounce acetaminophen to his declare that Cuba has “virtually no autism” as a result of folks there can’t afford acetaminophen.
In 2023, Cuba’s autism fee was round 83.3 per 10,000 kids, barely larger than the US fee of 80.9 in 10,000.
On Tuesday, the president went to the UN to deride its effectiveness, dismiss local weather change as a “con job” and inform members their international locations have been “going to hell”.
Taken along with the U-turn on Ukraine, these episodes reveal an emboldened president, who’s feeling much less constrained than ever.
Mr Trump’s combative type energises his base, however it comes with the chance of deepening polarisation.
His daring and brash method is inflicting political earthquakes, and we’re solely 9 months into his four-year time period.
