Victor Davis Hanson: Trump’s Warning on Russia and NATO

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At the United Nations, President Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin is “stalled” in Ukraine and called on NATO to cut off Russia’s oil and gas revenue. Trump, who once argued he could make a deal with Putin, now says the war has become a costly stalemate. As the war drags on, is Trump right that NATO can force Russia to the table? Victor Davis Hanson explains Trump’s evolving strategy, Ukraine’s military limits, and what a real path to peace could look like on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “Donald Trump said something—so we don't know where that area to negotiate is. But it's somewhere. But then Donald Trump said, I think, wisely, he said: But we're going to make sure Ukraine doesn't lose. And then he said they can take, as I said, they can take back all the land. They can't. We saw the 2023 offensive. This is World War I. And all of the assets are on Russia's side. “They don't have the manpower. They don't have the wherewithal. What they do have are brilliant fighters, a sophisticated drone industry, that if they are entrenched and they can hold a line where they are and they can selectively hit oil refineries and munitions plants in Russia, in Western Russia, then they can make it so costly…that Russia will have to come to the bargaining table.” 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com(0:00) Trump’s Shift on Ukraine (1:52) Trump’s Perspective (2:45) Putin’s Invasion (4:16) Realities of the Conflict (7:18) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's been a lot of news that Donald Trump apparently has changed his position on Ukraine.
0:05.2	He addressed the United Nations recently, and he said that Vladimir Putin is stalled.
0:10.6	What's going on?
0:11.5	Donald Trump came into office thinking that Joe Biden's lack of a strategy,
0:16.6	Joe Biden's demonization of Putin as a dictator was short-sighted. And then Donald Trump said,
0:22.9	I know Putin. He fears and respects me, so I can cut a deal. What Trump did not calibrate, though,
0:28.6	very quickly was that Vladimir Putin went into Ukraine and he is in a slog, a morass, a World War I trench mess.
0:38.4	And Donald Trump now has seen that, and he says to himself and to now the United Nations,
0:44.4	we will starve Russia out and we will all combine and we can win. Hello, this is Victor Davis-Hansson for the Daily Signal.
1:02.2	There's been a lot of news that Donald Trump apparently has changed his position on Ukraine.
1:07.9	He addressed the United Nations recently, and he said that Vladimir Putin is
1:13.4	stalled, that he's been fighting aimlessly, and that if he continues his air intrusions,
1:22.2	whether by planes or drones into NATO member countries, they might have to shoot them down.
1:28.6	He's also said that if the Europeans will stop buying Russian oil and gas and start supporting
1:36.3	Ukraine, Ukraine might be able to take back most of its territory lost after February 24th, 2022, although he didn't intend Crimea or all of the Donbos.
1:50.5	What's going on?
1:51.6	What's going on?
1:52.8	Donald Trump came into office thinking that Joe Biden's lack of a strategy, Joe Biden's demonization of Putin as a dictator or a murder,
2:04.6	true, but you never really insult your future interlocutor, was short-sighted. And because
2:11.6	as president, Donald Trump said, well, you know, he went in under George Bush into George Osatia.
2:20.1	Because Bush was mired in Iraq and projected maybe an image unintentionally of weakness.
2:26.2	And then there was Barack Obama and the hot mic and soul, you know, tell Vladimir I'll be flexible.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Daily Signal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Daily Signal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.