People display a puppet effigy of US President Donald Trump as they take part in a "No Kings" protest as part of a nationwide day of action aimed at encouraging early voting ahead of the midterm elections, in Washington, DC, US, October 17, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel Heuer
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman accused President Donald Trump of betraying the United States on Tuesday, branding him the “Traitor in Chief” over his increasingly open support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a Substack post, Krugman argued that the contempt Trump and his inner circle show for democracy and the rule of law amounts to contempt for America itself.
Krugman seized on remarks Trump made Monday outside the White House.
“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine, they haven’t been doing much,” Trump told reporters, adding, “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine, they’ve given us nothing.”
Hours earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian strike on a park in the Kharkiv region had killed six people, including children.
“Previous administrations have made deals with erstwhile adversaries, as Nixon did with China, and given up on support for failing allies, as the U.S. did in Vietnam and Afghanistan,” Krugman wrote. “But never before have we outright switched sides, let alone supported an aggressor while vilifying that aggressor’s victim.”
Krugman noted that Trump’s stance comes even as Russia has helped Iran in its war with the United States. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators in April there was “definitely some action there” when asked about Russian involvement. Krugman argued that Republicans would be crying “treason” if a Democratic president did the same.
Trump sidelined sweeping Russia sanctions he signed into law just a month earlier, issuing a waiver by executive order Friday.
The move has frustrated Republicans on Capitol Hill, with some demanding answers about disruptions to Ukraine’s satellite links and U.S. intelligence warnings of Russian missile launches.
As for why Trump is siding so openly with Russia now, Krugman pointed to his sinking fortunes at home. With Republicans facing a likely midterm drubbing, he argued, Trump no longer has much to lose politically and is now acting on sympathies he has held all along.
Krugman ended with a grim prediction that the worst is yet to come.