Summary

The State Department has ended a major USAID initiative to restore Ukraine’s energy grid, which has suffered continuous Russian attacks.

The move, seen as a signal of declining U.S. support, also includes downsizing USAID’s presence in Ukraine from 64 to just 8 personnel.

Officials warn this could leave Ukraine vulnerable, especially during winter, and reduce oversight of financial aid.

Additionally, a financial sector reform program has been terminated. The decision is part of the broader Trump administration policies shifting away from strong U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

  • UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 hours ago

    Damn is it nice to see people upset about this.

    I literally just got banned from a community cause thsi didn’t matter enough, only Gaza. Like, why can’t we support saving lives in multiple places

  • Lit@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    edit-2
    9 hours ago

    Didn’t Krasnov Trump say he wants killing to stop. why is he killing people by crippling energy grid restoration.

    • hansolo@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      Probably, and this would be the convenient timing of 5800 USAID canceled connects over last weekend.

  • Hayduke@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    186
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    21 hours ago

    Fuck every single person that voted for this doofus rapist shit head. Furthermore, fuck every registered voter that decided to sit this one out because, “reasons”. Our country alone arguably deserves the fallout this coward shitstain will stir up, the rest of the world absolutely does not.

    I really thought his handling of the covid pandemic (among everything else) would have been a wakeup call to Americans that he is beyond dumb as fuck. He clearly and plainly fucked it every single step of the way. I have since tempered my expectations of my fellow countrymen. Apathy, racism, ignorance and incuriosity will doom this institution.

      • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        17 hours ago

        Same here. I gained a little back when we rejected his ass last time but after the ensuing bullshit from conservatives during Biden’s term, lost it again. I had a feeling trump would win. It’s sad but I’m just gonna try and keep my hopes low for the us from now on. I think we will never be anywhere near the top on any front ever again and this is the point the decline is starting to hit hard

    • androidul@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      8 hours ago

      he’s not dumb, he’s a businessman. Like all successful businessmen the only deciding cards are: resources (material or immaterial) and power.

      I’m only sad about the fact that there’s absolutely no signs of diplomacy from no one’s end and that’s not a good sign

      • ntchdr@feddit.nu
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        8 minutes ago

        Doesn’t matter if he is a businessman or not, he’s not looking for the best deal for the US only himself and with the power he yields any deal that benefits him personally is a good deal, even if it screws the country up. In fact he’s utterly incapable of thinking about anything but himself because he’s a narcissist.

      • StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        7 hours ago

        Lol, he’s a terrible businessman because he’s so dumb. He’s a decent con artist and has always had enough family money to bounce back from his many failures.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    204
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    21 hours ago

    “we can’t have a woman in the Whitehouse. She’d be too emotional”

    👀

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    184
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    22 hours ago

    God fucking dammit.

    You fucking idiot motherfucking rapist orange shithead. And your ketamine boy.

  • WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    117
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    22 hours ago

    The Toddler-in-chief hoping that daddy Putin will pat him on the head and tell him what a good boy he is.

    • alykanas@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      48
      ·
      21 hours ago

      Why is it easier for you to believe some story about Trump being controlled by Russia, than to trust the evidence of your own eyes and ears, that Trump is cunt in his own right, and he’s backed bunch American billionaires, who are also cunts ?

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        38
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        20 hours ago

        Because we have evidence from before Trump was on the political stage that he might be a Russian agent. This has been a topic since the 1980s.

        This is something that actually predates his presidential runs.

        • alykanas@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          11
          ·
          20 hours ago

          Yes - I don’t necessarily disagree. Trump is a sleaze bag and would certainly have been a target . And dare I say a fairly soft one.

          It’s not ridiculous to imagine him being comprised, but I do prefer what we know ie. He’s a sleaze bag, easily controlled by the psychopaths who recognised him as the man they could a) get into power b) control with the ease that people are attributing to Putin.

          Those psychopaths being Mercer, Mellon, Thiel, Musk, and even the Kochs I think.

          And I don’t think those guys would do what they have done with Trump , if he was a Russia asset.

          • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            ·
            20 hours ago

            And I don’t think those guys would do what they have done with Trump , if he was a Russia asset.

            Why? They’re American Oligarchs. They’ve effectively recreated the economic systems in Russia, except they have the actual power, because Trump is an idiot and incapable of strategic planning unlike Putin. So while Putin is able to maintain control on his own, Trump is instead controlled by everyone around him. Exactly as the Republican party has been saying about everyone else for years, because everything they say is projection. If they constantly claim their enemies are doing the same thing without any evidence, they convince the mainstream public that doesn’t have the time, education, or desire to think critically about politics, that it doesn’t actually matter when it comes out that they’re doing it, because “The Dems have been doing it all along”.

      • CMLVI@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        18
        ·
        21 hours ago

        I was worried there for a second lol.

        It could also be both; Trump has ties to Russia and there have been open statements by Russian officials about Trump; specifically Patrushev saying

        "The election campaign is over. To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them."

        • alykanas@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          8
          ·
          21 hours ago

          Interesting to read, but on the balance of probability, I think it’s unlikely. Of course, anything is possible and, it’s plausible that global elite conspire for profit - but I just think it’s a too convenient blame all this bad stuff on the president of America being a Russian asset, because it’s easy to face than the idea than America is a has always been a bully on the world stage - and Trump, lacking skill and diplomacy - is merely letting us see behind the curtain.

          • CMLVI@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            20 hours ago

            It would be awfully convenient that Russians are openly speaking on what Trump does and does not owe to them without some kind of motive; whether or not it’s a separate “plot” or similar one I guess is up for debate though. I would have 0 issue believing that money is flowing through Russia as well. When you have billions, there aren’t too many restrictions on what you can and can’t do.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        21 hours ago

        Because there is very little to be gained by those American billionaires in this issue, so why would he pull this insane stunt? There is a lot to be gained by Russia, though. There is also the constant stream of verbal praise Trump has for Putin that he doesn’t show for any other person except maybe Musk (who is the richest person on the planet).

        • grue@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          21 hours ago

          If you systematically ask “who benefits?” for every single political thing Trump has done, the most consistent answer has always been “Russia.” Trump does things that act against Russia’s interests even more rarely than he does things that act against his own interests.

        • alykanas@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          21 hours ago

          But why would they pick, support and elect their man, only to lose him to Russian kompromat? It’s just so implausible, to me at least.

          In the current situation, America has given Russia a financial and military black eye, without a single dead US serviceman, with Europe paying half the bill, and they are now set to walk away with Ukraines mineral treasure, for the bargain price of giving Putin a couple of hundred miles of Ukrainian territory and agreeing to keep them out of NATO ?

          How is that a good deal for anyone But America ?

        • alykanas@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          20 hours ago

          Indeed they can, but that wouldn’t be giving much credit to Mercer, Thiel, Musk, Adelson, Mellon , the Rockbridge network, Ellison etc .

          I don’t think they would have backed a man controlled by Russia . I think they would have done due diligence. I credit them with the sense to do that.

            • alykanas@slrpnk.net
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              10 hours ago

              Russia said there was one phone call, 3 years ago.

              Is that connected ?

                • alykanas@slrpnk.net
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  2
                  ·
                  9 hours ago

                  Look at the story you are writing for yourself .

                  Even if it’s all true, you’ve now reached the point where you’ve rejected the idea Trump is controlled by the American men who fund him, fund the GOP and control all the machinery necessary to get him elected as President of the USA - all of which has documentary evidence on the public record - and instead you prefer the idea that Trump is controlled by Russia because Elon Musk’s mother has dinner with dignitaries in Beijing.

                  One of those stories requires a lot more imagination than the other. That’s all I’m saying .

      • WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        21 hours ago

        What the fuck are you on about?

        For the record, I do think that Putin manipulates Trump, and pretty brazenly at that, but I don’t think that he controls him. Trump’s ego is far too bloated for that.

        I meant pretty much exactly what my metaphor implies - Trump is weak and insecure and desperate for affirmation, and he idolizes Putin, so he wants his approval.

        AND Trump is also greedy and self-absorbed and trying to please his greedy and self-absorbed cronies and patrons - that’s painfully obviously why he’s trying to swing this mineral rights deal alongside trying to effectively hand Ukraine to Putin.

        It’s possible for more than one thing to be true at the same time.

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          21 hours ago

          I don’t think that he controls him. Trump’s ego is far too bloated for that.

          A bloated ego makes a person easier to control, not harder.

          • WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            20 hours ago

            Here’s the full text of what I said, including the part you inexplicably left out:

            For the record, I do think that Putin manipulates Trump, and pretty brazenly at that, but I don’t think that he controls him. Trump’s ego is far too bloated for that.

            And that’s specifically because, in point of fact, a bloated ego makes a person easier to manipulate, but not to “control.” They reflexively rebel against direct control, because it’s a threat to their ego, but they’re relatively easily manipulated, because all anyone has to do is frame things in a way that will appeal to their ego.

            Did you really not grasp the distinction I was making there?

            • floofloof@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              20 hours ago

              Yes I really didn’t, and it seems a little academic: both could be called forms of control.

              • Nougat@fedia.io
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                19 hours ago

                The kind of control Putin exerts over Trump depends on Trump thinking he’s in control, when he is most obviously to anyone with eyes, not.

                On the other hand, Putin control Lukashenko, and Lukashenko knows it.

          • WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            20 hours ago

            I don’t pretend to know one way or the other.

            He’s clearly working for the benefit of Russia, but “asset” implies an official, essentially employer/employee relationship, and there’s no knowing if that’s the case or not.

            Not that it much matters really - whether he’s working for Russia’s benefit because they literally own him or working for Russia’s benefit because he’s a desperately insecure narcissist who idolizes Putin, it works out to pretty much the same thing in the long run.

  • MyOpinion@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    60
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    22 hours ago

    The Orange Turd is a traitor just like the people who voted for him.

  • resetbypeer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    21 hours ago

    This was the plan from the beginning. Krasnov and co just needed an nice stage to humiliate him and use it for “reason” to revoke this. Traitor in chief. Utterly disgusting

    • alykanas@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      30
      ·
      21 hours ago

      Please help me understand, Why is it easier for you to prefer some story about Trump being controlled by Russia and ignore the evidence othat Trump is cunt in his own right, and he’s backed bunch of American billionaires, who are also cunts, which is all well documented ?

      It’s driving me crazy . I don’t understand.

      • grue@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        21 hours ago

        Why are you trying to imply that Trump’s allegiance with Russia is anything other than voluntary? Trump is a cunt in his own right, and part of that cunt-hood is that he’s a fanboi of Putin and just flat-out likes Russia better than he does Europe.

        • alykanas@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          12
          ·
          21 hours ago

          Well, fanboy yes ! But that’s very different from being under control.

          It is known that Trump is not an ideologue . He just likes money and power, which Putin has achieved in spades .

          • grue@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            9
            ·
            19 hours ago

            There’s a saying that goes “you can’t rape the willing.” Frankly, I think you and the other guy you were arguing with are both right: from Russia’s perspective, Trump is a patsy and an asset. From Trump’s perspective, Russia is a valued friend and ally.

      • resetbypeer@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        21 hours ago

        At least one of his billionairs seems to be also a Russian asset. I mean you really think that Putin is not playing the cords here? Their army may be a paper tiger (although quantity is also a quality). But what Russia and in the past the Soviet Union are masters at is psychops., information warfare and intimidation and estortion. And above all Russia has a mobster style ruling. Basically what you see now in the US.

        • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          16 hours ago

          To add, if you didn’t know that, Zelensky and Putin are both Vovas, but the start of their names are spelled a bit different, Volodymyr vs Vladimir, volo vs vla, following ukrainian and russian takes at the same root name. The thing that doesn’t make sense tho is that the end of their names, dymyr\dimir is spelled exactly the same, and is not a marker of dialects, but rather Putin having an old soviet-like transliteration of a slavic name while Zelensky has a more modern one that follows the actual way it’s spelled. A probable reason for why the old version is like that is that russian and ukrainian have their У sounding very different to English Y, like ‘ugh’, and using ‘I’ avoided such association. I’m not a linguist at all, so take it with a grain of salt.