TRUMP: UKRAINE ‘SHOULD HAVE NEVER STARTED IT’: As Russia launched another massive drone and missile attack on civilian targets in Ukraine’s port city of Odesa, President Donald Trump was bristling at the suggestion that Ukraine was being sidelined as the U.S. pursues a better relationship with Russia and an end to the war on President Vladimir Putin’s terms.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years [ago]. You should have never started it,” Trump told reporters after he signed another round of executive orders at his Florida residence. “You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine. That would have given them almost all of the land. Everything. Almost all of the land. And no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.”

The stunning rebuke of Volodymyr Zelensky — blaming the Ukrainian president for standing up to Putin’s attempt to eliminate Ukraine as a sovereign country — sent the clearest signal yet that Trump sees the war through Putin’s eyes.

“With President Trump saying, well, the Ukrainians shouldn’t have started a war — it is shocking to have the leader of the United States of America not know the most fundamental elements of how this crisis came to be. A dictator, Putin, who wanted access to the sea, who took Crimea, who wanted a land bridge to Crimea, invading and wanting to completely wipe out Ukraine,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said last night on CNN.

Trump’s extemporaneous Mar-a-Lago rant was filled with misinformation while echoing standard Moscow’s talking points, such as…

TRUMP: ZELENSKY DOWN TO 4% APPROVAL: In parroting the Kremlin’s desire for Ukraine to hold presidential elections in the middle of the war, so that a more pliable leader can be installed, Trump accused Zelensky of instituting martial law in Ukraine and holding power against the wishes of the vast majority of the Ukrainian people.

“We haven’t had elections in Ukraine where we have martial law — essentially martial law in Ukraine where the leader in Ukraine, I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s down at 4% approval rating and where a country has been blown to smithereens.”

Zelensky, whose approval ratings soared in the months after the February 2022 invasion to over 90%, has dipped recently to under 70%, according to an October 2024 poll. The Kyiv Insider cites a more recent survey showing Zelenesky with a 52% approval rating, which it notes is still better than Trump’s current 46.7% rating. “But after refusing to turn over Ukraine’s resources to Trump, Zelensky’s has probably gone up to 90%,” the site posted on X. “Ukrainians generally love Zelensky.”

“Let’s be real — Trump just did more for Zelensky’s legitimacy than any poll in Ukraine,” Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former economy minister, posted on X. “People are rallying around Ze again because both Putin and Trump are coming for him.”

THE BOGUS $350 BILLION CLAIM: In making his argument that the U.S. is being taken advantage of while Europe is shirking its responsibility to aid Ukraine, Trump continues to inflate the amount of military and economic assistance provided to Ukraine throughout the war.

Trump admitted he was exaggerating the numbers, but claimed they were roughly accurate. “Well, we gave them, I believe, $350 billion. But let’s say it’s something less than that. But it’s a lot. And we have to equalize with Europe because Europe has given a very much smaller percentage than that. I think Europe has given 100 billion.”

The respected Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks aid allocated to Ukraine, notes Europe has consistently been ahead of the United States in total assistance. However, much of Europe’s aid is in the form of loans to be repaid with interest on seized Russian assets.

“Let’s say, 300 plus,” Trump said, “And it’s more important for them than it is for us. We have an ocean in between, and they don’t. But where is all the money that’s been given? Where is it going? And nobody — I’ve never seen an accounting of it.” 

“Since 2022, Congress has appropriated $175.2 billion in aid due to the war in Ukraine,” not $300 billion or $350 billion, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a recent explainer. And where did it go?

“As CSIS has reported before, ‘aid to Ukraine’ is a misnomer because 90% of military aid is spent in the United States. Of aid overall, 60% is spent in the United States, about 25% is spent in Ukraine, and the final 15% is spent globally.”

The CSIS also quoted retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, as saying, “We have a pretty good accounting of where [the aid] is going” while admitting most appropriated funds are spent in the United States.

TRUMP KNOCKS ZELENSKY OVER RUSSIAN INVASION: ‘SHOULD HAVE NEVER STARTED IT’

Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.

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HAPPENING TODAY: Ukrainian president Zelensky postponed his planned trip to Saudi Arabia until next month so he could concentrate on trying to persuade U.S. officials not to give up on his country’s battle against Russian aggression.

This morning, Zelensky welcomed Keith Kellogg to Kyiv for talks with his military commanders and a possible visit to the front lines to show how Ukraine’s advanced drone warfare has given it an asymmetrical advantage against Russia’s war-weary ground troops, who can only advance while taking heavy casualties.“It’s very clear to us the importance of the sovereignty of this nation and the independence of this nation as well. Part of my mission is to sit and listen,” Kellogg said upon arrival on an overnight train from Poland. “We understand the need for security guarantees.”

ZELENSKY: ‘I HAVE NO INTENTION OF ACCEPTING ANY ULTIMATUMS’: Despite putting on a brave face and trying to maintain good relations with Trump and his team, Zelensky was clearly disappointed by the high-level negotiations conducted in Saudi Arabia yesterday. He wasn’t informed of or invited to the meeting between top U.S. and Russian officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“It seems like Russia and the U.S. are preparing an ultimatum to Ukraine, talking about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Zelensky said yesterday. “We didn’t accept ultimatums in 2022 when the situation was much more serious, and nobody was helping us, and I have no intention of accepting any ultimatums now.”

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Zelensky also suggested Trump’s Tuesday tirade shows that the American president has been captured by Russian propaganda. “Unfortunately, President Trump — I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us — unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky said, according to CNN.

“I would like to have more truth with the Trump team,” he said.

“Trump’s team allegedly has offered Putin (1) Ukrainian territory, (2) no NATO membership for Ukraine, (3) no US soldiers in Ukraine, (4) the withdrawal of US soldiers from Europe, including from frontline states, and (5) sanctions relief,” former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul posted on X. “Putin’s return offer —  nothing.”

RUBIO: ‘EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES” TO PARTNER WITH RUSSIA: In a joint interview with the Associated Press and CNN following the meeting with the Russians, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz, Waltz said the goal was to move fast “not only end the war but then to unlock what could be very productive and stabilizing relationships going forward.”

“If you just think about just in a few months President Trump has shifted the entire global conversation from not if the war is going to end but just how it’s going to end,” Waltz said. “And only President Trump can do that.”

Rubio said the key to resolving the conflict is restoring normal relations with Russia and working with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including reopening embassies. 

“There’s been a series of reciprocal actions taken over the last ten years that have really diminished our ability to operate in Moscow as an example, and they would argue their ability to operate in Washington.  We’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits,” Rubio said. “President Trump has pledged and intends to keep his promise to do everything he can to bring an end to this conflict.  We cannot do that unless we have at least some normalcy in the way our diplomatic missions operate in Moscow and in Washington, D.C.”

“Should this conflict come to an acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians, geopolitically on issues of common interest, and frankly economically on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and will also improve our relations in the long term between these two important countries,” Rubio said.

MEANWHILE IN MOSCOW: UNBRIDLED JUBILATION: All this talk is music to Putin’s ears, and the Russians can’t seem to believe their reversal of fortunes.

“The Russians look at this as not just talking. The mere fact that they are meeting, the mere fact that they are going to talk, is hugely important for the Kremlin, because it means Russia’s back on the stage,” said former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University “This is exactly what Putin wants, the end of isolation and the beginning of bringing Russia back and bringing Putin back onto the world stage. That’s what they want, and they are definitely getting it right now.”

The mood on Russian State television has been positively giddy in recent days. “They’re drinking vodka straight out of the bottle,” in the words of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton. 

The host of a nightly program, Vladimir Solovyov, even suggested that the U.S. and Russia could soon be allies and carve up the spoils of war between them. “Why not create a military coalition between Russia and America and divide Europe? Who needs it? I think it’s a great idea,” he said on his show. “We’ll set up our bases, without a hitch, at the usual points — Berlin, Paris, as in 1814. Europe will immediately save money on the armed forces, on the military-industrial complex, and they won’t have to worry about anything.”

WICKER: PUTIN CAN’T BE TRUSTED: One key Republican who does not seem entirely on board with the direction Trump is headed is Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

THE RUNDOWN:

Washington Examiner: Trump knocks Zelensky over Russian invasion: ‘Should have never started it’

Washington Examiner: US stresses improving relationship with Russia in negotiations to end Ukraine war

Washington Examiner: Steve Witkoff at the forefront of Trump’s global peace efforts

Washington Examiner: Second phase of Israel-Hamas ceasefire up in the air as hostages and victims’ bodies still being exchanged

Washington Examiner: Thousands of federal employees lose their jobs as DOGE takes an ax to the workforce

Washington Examiner: Noem debuts major anti-illegal immigration ad campaign: ‘We will hunt you down’

Washington Examiner: Southern border arrests dropped in January to lowest since height of pandemic

Washington Examiner: Kash Patel clears key Senate hurdle to advance toward FBI director confirmation

Washington Examiner: Trump vows to fire all Biden-era US attorneys: ‘Clean house’

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Iran, China, and why Elbridge Colby must be confirmed

Politico: Trump Allies Boost Imperiled Pentagon Pick

AP: DOGE Is Getting Lists of the Military’s Probationary Workers from the Pentagon

Washington Post: Defense Department firings expected to start soon, officials say

Wall Street Journal: US, Russia Forge New Path on Ukraine After First High-Level Talks

AP: Sidelined by Trump, Macron tries to rally Europe on Ukraine. But divisions run deep

Breaking Defense: UK Defense Secretary Urges US to Commit to ‘Backstop’ to Avoid Future Putin Attack

19fortyfive.com: Trump’s Russia Strategy Tested as Ukraine’s Drone War Escalates

Washington Post: Trump’s transactional style unnerves Taiwan

New York Times: CIA Expands Secret Drone Flights Over Mexico

AP: How US tech giants supplied Israel with AI models, raising questions about tech’s role in warfare

19fortyfive.com: Poland Wants Hundreds of M1 Abrams Tanks. America Must Deliver

Militarycom: Military Health System Beneficiaries Urged to Download Old Medical Records by April 1

San Antonio Express News: ‘What country am I in?’ Famed Black Air Force general slams Trump’s DEI crusade

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Mission Capability Rates Reach Lowest Levels in Years

Defense One: Uncertainty Mounts at Space Development Agency as Air Force IG Prepares Probe

Militarycom: Military Health System Beneficiaries Urged to Download Old Medical Records by April 1

San Antonio Express News: ‘What country am I in?’ Famed Black Air Force general slams Trump’s DEI crusade

Air & Space Forces Magazine: B-52s Fly Across Middle East, Drop Live Munitions

Washington Post: State Dept. orders cancellation of news subscriptions around the world

Air & Space Forces Magazine: How to Be the Top Air National Guard Recruiter in History

THE CALENDAR: 

WEDNESDAY | FEBRUARY 19

8 a.m. 7500 GEOINT Drive, Springfield, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association 2025 Navy Information Warfare Industry Day, with Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, and director of naval intelligence; Rear Adm. Steve Parode, deputy director of Naval intelligence; Vice Adm. Craig Clapperton, commander, Fleet Cyber Command/Commander Navy Space Command and commander, 10th Fleet; Rear Adm. Seiko Okano, commander, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command; and Rear Adm. Kurt Rothenhaus, chief of naval research https://www.afcea.org/events/2025-navy-information-warfare-industry-day/registration

9:30 a.m. 418 Russell — Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the nomination of Paul Lawrence to be deputy Veterans Affairs secretary http://veterans.senate.gov

10 a.m. — Hudson Institute discussion: “Righting the Ship: Strengthening U.S. Navy Shipbuilding and Ship Repair,” with Assistant Navy Secretary for Research, Development, and Acquisition Nickolas Guertin; Glen Kim, director of naval affairs and strategy development at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries; Brian Holland, president and general manager of MHI Ship Repair and Services; Greg Little, senior counselor at Palantir Technologies; Steve Miley, director of planning, engineering and scheduling at NASSCO Ship Repair Norfolk; Brad Moyer, vice president of business development and strategic planning at BAE Systems Ship Repair; Cecilia Panella, senior strategy and policy analyst at Saronic Technologies Inc.; and Chris Clark, vice president of new construction at TOTE Services https://www.hudson.org/events/righting-ship-strengthening-us-navy-shipbuilding-ship-repair-bryan-clark

11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Implications of South Korea’s Political Crisis for Foreign Policy,” with former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Kathleen Stephens, global senior adviser at McLarty Associates; Kang Choi, president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies; and Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chair https://www.csis.org/events/impossible-state-live-podcast-implications-south-koreas-political-crisis-foreign-policy

12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual book discussion: “Spirals: The Ukraine War and the Toppling of the World,” with former French Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche; and Anatol Lieven, director of the Quincy Institute’s Eurasia Program https://quincyinst.org/events/book-talk-spirals-the-ukraine-war-and-the-toppling-of-the-world/

12 p.m. 325 Russell — Friedlander Group event to celebrate the introduction of S.262, the “Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional Gold Medal Act,” in recognition of his heroic actions during World War II, with Pastor Chris Edmonds, son of Roddie Edmonds https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/5j662up?

3:30 p.m. — Senate Veterans’ Affairs ranking member Richard Blumenthal (D-CN) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) press call via webinar, on “how the Trump Administration’s mass terminations of federal government and VA employees harms veterans across the country.” : RSVP [email protected]

4 p.m. 2121 K St. NW — International Institute for Strategic Studies book discussion: Strategy and Grand Strategy, with author Joshua Rovner, American University associate professor; Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute director of foreign and defense policy studies; and Steven Feldstein, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace senior fellow https://www.iiss.org/events/2025/02/book-discussion-strategy-and-grand-strategy/

5 p.m. 775 12th St. NW — National Defense Industrial Association 35th Annual Special Operations two-day Symposium: “Special Operations in an Era of Strategic Competition,” with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Ia) https://tinyurl.com/3r4suw6m

THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 20

8 a.m. 775 12th St. NW — National Defense Industrial Association 35th annual Special Operations Symposium: “Special Operations in an Era of Strategic Competition,” with Army Gen. Bryan Fenton, commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Command; former Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, NDIA president and CEO; Air Force Lt. Gen. Sean Farrell, deputy commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; retired Army Lt. Gen. Ken Tovo, president and CEO of DOL Enterprises, Inc. and former commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command; former Defense Undersecretary for Policy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors LLC; Rear Adm. Mark Schafer, commander, Special Operations Command South; Rear Adm. Jeromy Williams, commander, Special Operations Command Pacific; Army Command Sgt. Maj. Shane Shorter, senior enlisted leader of the U.S. Special Operations Command; and retired Army Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, former commander, Army Special Operations Command; Air Force Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander, U.S. Cyber Command; Army Lt. Gen. Thomas James, deputy commander, U.S. Space Command; Army Lt. Gen. Richard Angle, commander, Allied Special Operations Forces Command, North Atlantic Treaty Organizations/Special Operations Command Europe; Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commanding general of the Army Special Operations Command; and retired Vice Adm. Ross Myers, former deputy commander, U.S. Cyber Fleet Command/10th Fleet; Sandra Hobson, principal deputy assistant Defense secretary for special operations/low-intensity conflict; Air Force Lt. Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, director of J7 Joint Force Development; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan, vice commander, U.S. Special Operations Command; and Force Master Chief Petty Officer Walter Dittmar, force master chief of the Naval Special Warfare Command; House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA); Melissa Johnson, acquisition executive at the U.S. Special Operations Command; and Air Force Lt. Gen. David Harris Jr., deputy chief of staff at Air Force Futures; https://tinyurl.com/3r4suw6m

9 a.m. 608 Dirksen — U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on “An Axis of Autocracy? China’s Relations with Russia, Iran, and North Korea,” with Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Center for New American Security’s Transatlantic Security Program; Christopher Walker, vice president for studies and analysis at the National Endowment for Democracy; Christopher Chivvis, senior fellow and director of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s American Statecraft Program; Kimberly Donovan, director of the Atlantic Council’s Economic Statecraft Initiative; Elina Ribakova, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics; Anthony Ruggiero, adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Elizabeth Wishnick, senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses; Jemima Baar, independent researcher; Jake Rinaldi, defense analyst at the U.S. Army War College; and Sheena Chestnut Greitens, associate professor at the University of Texas Austin https://www.uscc.gov

10 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the U.S. virtual discussion: “A Foreign Policy Memo for the New U.S. Administration,” with Kristine Berzina, managing director of GMF North; Lindsay Gorman, managing director of GMF Technology; Andrew Small, senior fellow at the GMFUS Indo-Pacific Program; and Ian Lesser, GMFUS fellow https://www.gmfus.org/event/foreign-policy-memo-new-us-administration

10 a.m. — Wilson Center virtual discussion: “Arabs and Israelis: From October 7 to Peacemaking,” with Shai Feldman, chair of Israeli politics and society at the Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies and professor of politics at Brandeis University; Abdel Monem Said Aly, chairman of the board and CEO of the Al Masry Al Youm Publishing House; Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, member of the Arab Barometer’s Steering Committee and senior fellow at the Brandeis University Crown Center for Middle East Studies; and Robin Wright, fellow at the Wilson Center and author and columnist for the New Yorker https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/discussion-arabs-and-israelis

8 p.m. 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore, Maryland — Stevenson University “Baltimore Speaker Series” with retired Adm. James Stavridis, the 16th NATO supreme allied commander https://www.baltimorespeakers.org/speakers/

FRIDAY | FEBRUARY 21

8:30 a.m. — Henry L. Stimson Center virtual discussion: “Trump and Ishiba Meet for the First Time – What Comes Next?” with former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield; chairman emeritus, Stimson Center’s Board of Directors; Kunihiko Miyake, director and special adviser of the Canon Institute for Global Studies; and Yuki Tatsumi, senior fellow and co-director of Stimson’s East Asia Program and director of Stimson’s Japan Program https://www.stimson.org/event/trump-and-ishiba-meet-for-the-first-time-what-comes-next/12 p.m. 1957 E St. NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: “What Drives Russians to Support the War?” with Natalia Savelyeva, researcher at the Public Sociology Laboratory and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and Ivan Grek, director of George Washington University Institute for European, Russian and European Studies Russia Program https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/what-drives-russians-to-support-the-war