'Desperate' Trump sparks fear he'll surrender to Putin to save face

President Donald Trump's meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska could bring disaster, warned Jonathan Lemire for The Atlantic — with the president so fixated on fulfilling his campaign promise of peace that he could hand Putin everything he wants.

Trump originally promised he would be able to end the invasion of Ukraine within one day of taking office — something that clearly didn't happen. After months of trying to cut a deal with Putin, Trump has appeared disillusioned and prepared to walk away. But it's not certain he will hold that resolve, Lemire said.

"Having promised an end to the war during his campaign, Trump, above all, is desperate for the fighting to stop, and observers fear that, as a result, he might agree to Putin’s terms regardless of what Ukraine wants," wrote Lemire. "Trump has already said in recent days that Russia and Ukraine will need to “swap lands” (without specifying which ones). But it is not clear that Russia is willing to give up anything."

Moreover, he wrote, "if Zelensky were to reject a deal, no matter how one-sided it might be, in Trump’s mind, Kyiv would suddenly be the primary obstacle to peace" — which could lead to Trump turning his anger on Ukraine, much as he did in his Oval Office blowup earlier in the year.

Part of the problem, Lemire continued, is that Trump wants to be seen as a peace president, and doesn't feel he is getting the praise he deserves.

"He also wants a Nobel Peace Prize," he wrote.

"Several of his closest allies have told me that the fact that President Barack Obama received one infuriates Trump."

And while he has presided over some peace deals, like in India and Azerbaijan, "the world’s most high-profile conflicts, in Gaza and in Ukraine ... have only escalated in recent months," with Trump failing to do anything to improve the situation there — furthering his desire to end the Ukraine war by any means he can.

And if Putin persuades Trump to once again waver on support to Ukraine in the name of ending the fighting, Lemire concluded, it's a huge blow to U.S. allies.

"Europe seems unlikely to be able to sustain the level of arms and intelligence that Ukraine would need to defend itself," he wrote. "And if Putin manages to secure a victory in Ukraine, he could soon look to expand his war aims elsewhere. All of which heightens the stakes of the summit in Alaska."