Dawod answers: What is Trump up to?

 

Nivette Dawod

Published 08:11

He lashes out at Zelenskyy – and strikes a diesel deal with Putin.

Is it all just strategy ahead of the US midterm elections?

Aftonbladet foreign correspondent Nivette Dawod answers three questions about Donald Trump’s political maneuvering.

► What has happened?

US President Donald Trump has blocked a major sanctions package against Russia and reached an agreement with President Vladimir Putin to allow trade in Russian diesel—both in the US market and globally.

This has sparked outrage among American politicians—as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy accuses Trump of pressuring Ukraine to surrender to Russia. Trump has responded by claiming that Zelenskyy never actually wanted the war to end.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is convinced that Trump’s drastic political pivot is linked to the upcoming US midterm elections. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB

► Why is this happening now?

Trump has claimed that the deal with Russia, combined with the fact that the US has “total control over the Strait of Hormuz,” will cause diesel prices to drop at “record speed.” He describes lower prices for Americans as his top priority.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is convinced that Trump’s drastic political pivot is linked to the US midterm elections taking place on November 3.

“Politics becomes very aggressive during election periods,” Zelenskyy says in an interview with Bloomberg. He hopes for a better relationship with the US after the election.

► How do the US midterm elections play a role? 

A Democrat-controlled Congress makes it more difficult for Trump to push through many of his foreign policy decisions.

Furthermore, Republican candidates on the ballot are not getting much help from their president right now: his approval rating has fallen to a record low of 33 percent, according to a major new poll by the Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos.