Buoyed by a Middle East triumph that has won over even some of Donald Trump’s doubters, White House aides now see a president who is undoubtedly riding a high, but whose optimism is tempered by his history with an indomitable adversary.
A White House source familiar with conversations surrounding the president’s meeting with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Trump is in an ‘ambitious mood,’ even as he’s realistic about Vladimir Putin’s playbook.
‘He feels he has momentum on his side to tackle this, but I know he is extremely frustrated with Putin because he thinks he is making him look bad on the world stage.
‘He is going in even more skeptical and ready to use more aggressive tactics if he has to,’ the aide said, when describing Trump’s posture with Putin.
Trump spoke to Putin in a ‘productive’ phone call on Thursday and the pair agreed to fresh peace talks in Hungary in the coming weeks, although a date has not been confirmed.
The stakes could not be higher. But a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza and subsequent hostage-prisoner swap will be a walk in the park when compared to the relentless, unpredictability of Putin, analysts tell the Daily Mail.
Putin commands a nuclear arsenal, controls Europe’s energy supply and has shown no signs of backing down after almost four years of grinding war in Ukraine.
‘Putin is a mob boss. Hamas are street thugs,’ said Len Khodorkovsky, a former deputy assistant secretary of state.
‘Putin is a master manipulator… former KGB,’ said a former senior defense official in the Biden administration. ‘He’s made it clear he wants to continue the war.’
Since their frosty Oval Office clash in February, when Trump and Vice President JD Vance openly criticized Zelenskyy for what they called a ‘lack of gratitude,’ the dynamic between the American president and his Ukrainian counterpart has thawed.
Trump has moved from a hands–off approach with Putin to a tougher stance, even declaring that Ukraine could reclaim land taken by Russia. In a September Truth Social post, he labeled Russia a ‘paper tiger’ and, for the first time, called it the aggressor in the war.
President Trump is set to host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday, marking a clear shift toward strengthening US–Ukraine relations following months of pressure on Kyiv to make compromises in its conflict with Russia.
A recent phone call between the two leaders reportedly included discussions about the potential transfer of long–range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, a topic expected to be revisited during their meeting.
According to the former senior Biden Defense Department official, Trump’s recent strong posture in Gaza means his high-pressure tactics are now taken very seriously.
‘Trump was able to strong–arm Netanyahu,’ the official said, pointing to his influence in the recent Gaza ceasefire negotiations.
With Iran—the main funder of Hamas—’basically eliminated’ following the 12–day war, the official said, ‘that gave Trump the ability to go back to Netanyahu and basically say, enough is enough.’
The Senior Biden administration official warned that Ukraine presents a very different kind of challenge, even though Trump said this week it’s a war Putin should’ve won in a week.
‘There’s no one capability that’s going to change the battlefield dynamics,’ the official said, noting that even advanced systems like Tomahawk missiles won’t present a silver bullet. ‘The way the war ends is at the negotiating table.’
Russia has an enormous army and vast battlefield resources. But its technology is generally thought to be far inferior to the western weapons that have flooded into Ukraine courtesy of the United States.
John Sitilides, National Security Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, observed that Russia is advancing its military campaign at a striking pace, in contrast to Hamas, whose military capabilities have dwindled—particularly as its primary backer, Iran, has been significantly weakened.
‘Russia continues to produce artillery shells and advanced drones at an astonishing rate, far surpassing the output of Ukraine or even NATO.’
Sitilides, a former State Department consultant, says Trump’s Middle East success has left Putin more isolated diplomatically.
Putin relied on ties with now–weakened Iran and Syria and alienated Israel by aligning with pro–Palestinian forces. ‘Almost all of his Middle East partners are on the wrong side of the historic peace agreement,’ Sitilides said.
He cautioned that Putin is unlikely to engage in real peace talks unless major concessions are made, such as conceding Crimea, eastern Ukrainian territories, and Ukraine’s NATO exclusion.
Meanwhile, a former Biden defense official noted the window for peace may be closing for both sides, as the Biden administration had prioritized maximizing Ukraine’s leverage before talks.
Still, the source argued the White House can take a key lesson from Trump’s recent Middle East breakthrough: ‘Friends and allies matter… When the whole region turns against you, that’s incredibly powerful,’ they said. ‘Standing shoulder to shoulder with more people is an incredible message to an aggressor.’
