After rebuking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump confided to reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin "respects me."
After months of Putin's bluffed ceasefires, obfuscating and continued war crimes against civilians in Ukraine, Trump this month finally gave the Russian leader a reason to respect him: U.S. Tomahawk missiles.
In a recent call with Zelenskyy, Trump raised the possibility of selling the long-range missiles to Ukraine, which would give it the capability to strike deep inside Russia.
"There needs to be readiness on the Russian side to engage in real diplomacy — this can be achieved through strength," Zelensky said after the call.
It's a principle that Trump and his advisers seem to be embracing as well.
For too long, U.S. policymakers have dealt with Putin as a rational leader.
He is not.
He puts no value on human life.
He is blithe to offer empty promises to advance his objectives with no regard for the repercussions — or, perhaps, because he knows they will be minimal.
And, to him, no cost is too large to achieve his ambitions — to assert Russia's hegemonic sociopolitics on free democratic nations.
The only language Putin understands is military might, and with Trump's reported offer to equip Ukraine with the weapons to strike the heart of Russia, Putin may finally listen.
Without a doubt, Trump is right that his predecessor's global apologism strategy emboldened Russia to invade Ukraine.
Former President Joe Biden's retreat on the world stage and policies that prioritized wokeness ahead of military readiness signaled that the U.S. was stepping back from its role as a global military power, which gave Putin the latitude he needed.
Upon returning to office, Trump exercised the right procedures to turn the screws on Russia — if he were dealing with a rational leader.
The president has worked hard to drive down oil prices, knowing it would further hammer Russia's already beleaguered economy.
He imposed hefty tariffs on India and other Russian-oil buyers, and he continues to lean on NATO countries to stop buying Russian products.
But these economic levers continue to prove insufficient. Russia's war on Ukraine, which is now in its fourth year, barrels on because Putin is willing to sacrifice his nation's economy in pursuit of his conquests.
By and large, he's gotten away with war crimes, violations of long settled international law and other acts acts of aggression, including the intentional targeting of civilians as a way to reduce Ukraine's will to stay in the fight.
When I served in Congress, I delivered a speech on the House floor documenting Putin's three-decades-long reign of terror and war crimes.
Putin's personal history here matters.
His willingness to terrorize and kill his own citizens and his malevolent, vindictive pattern of poisoning, imprisoning and defenestrating his political opponents all reflect his sociopathic personality.
It seems there is no bridge Putin won't cross — or burn.
Putin's war on Ukraine serves one of his central strategic goals: retaining power.
Conflict distracts from his domestic failures by shoring up enthusiasm and patriotism in contrived fights against foreign "enemies."
And Putin's war on Ukraine is particularly useful to him, as it helps solidify his image as a stalwart defender of Slavic identity against the West.
Trump has posted on Truth Social numerous times that "everyone wants to end the war."
In reality, the one person who could easily end it has shown no appetite for doing so.
In just the past six months, Putin has more than doubled the number of drones and missiles shot toward Ukraine.
He has escalated attacks, not only in number but also in severity, the number of civilians targeted, and the broader geographic scope.
Putin has demonstrated no willingness to relent, and the carrots extended by the U.S. seem only to have emboldened the Russian autocrat more.
Trump appears to be embracing the reality that Putin is a heartless thug who only understands military strength.
The president has been reticent about drawing America into unnecessary foreign wars, and rightfully so.
But he should not be afraid to flex our country's global muscle to stand down this Russian bully — as Biden's failure tells.
Hopefully, a few Tomahawk missiles will help Putin understand that America is back and there are consequences for crimes against humanity.
Ken Buck graduated from Princeton University in 1981 and the University of Wyoming Law School in 1985. He's worked for then Rep. Dick Cheney, R-Wyo., on the Iran-Contra Investigation; then became a prosecutor with the U.S. DOJ. In 1990, Ken joined the Colorado U.S. Atty’s. Office. Rep. Buck began his political career by being elected district attorney three times in Colorado (2004, 2008, 2012). In 2014, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Colorado's 4th Congressional Dist. Since leaving Congress in 2024, he has been a consultant focusing on political strategy for business development and public affairs. Read more of Ken Buck's reports — here.