SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is saluted by military leaders during a Day of the Soldier commemoration in the capital Brasilia on August 25, 2021. (Photo: Andressa Anholete/Getty Images)
Amid fears that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro could attempt a military coup if he loses this October's presidential contest, a group of U.S. congressional Democrats this week proposed a measure that would suspend security aid to Brazil if its armed forces intervene in the election.
Brasilwire's Brian Mier first reported that Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 which, if approved, would require the secretary of state "to review actions by Brazilian armed forces related to that country's October 2022 presidential elections and to consider such actions under statutory guardrails on U.S. security assistance."
"It calls for the discontinuation of security assistance," an insider with knowledge of the measure told Mier. Such assistance to Brazil consists mostly of joint military exercises and six-figure financial support. U.S. President Joe Biden has requested $800,000 in international military education and training funds for Brazil next fiscal year.
\u201cBreaking: Led by Congressman Tomasz Malinowski, a group of 6 Democratic lawmakers have added an amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that threatens to cut off aid to Brazil's military if it undermines this year's Presidential elections. https://t.co/12zE8H6hdA\u201d— BrianMier (@BrianMier) 1657156843
The unnamed insider characterized the proposed NDAA amendment as "basically a way of saying, 'you need to consider whether these actions amount to a coup because, if so, that would necessitate cutting off U.S. assistance.'"
As Bolsonaro and his allies continue their unfounded attacks on the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system, recent polls show him trailing former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva--who is running for the office again after being cleared of corruption charges last year--by double digits.
Bolsonaro, who decades ago declared his intention to stage a coup if he was ever elected president, has said he may not accept the results of the election if he loses under the current voting system.
His running mate, Walter Braga Netto, recently told a group of Brazilian business leaders that the armed forces will not honor the results of October's election unless the Superior Election Court changes the ballot system.
Related Content
The last time there was a military coup in Brazil--many progressive observers consider the 2016 impeachment and ouster of former President Dilma Rousseff, also of da Silva's leftist Workers' Party, a political coup--it was backed by the United States.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a naval task force to the South American country as far-right elements of the Brazilian military deposed Joao Goulart, the democratically elected president, and his progressive government. Two decades of military dictatorship followed. The regime's forces were trained--including in torture--by U.S. agents.
Bolsonaro, a former army paratrooper who rose through the ranks during and after the dictatorship, has repeatedly praised the brutal regime, under which tens of thousands of people were tortured, murdered, and disappeared. He also infamously honored as a "national hero" a former army officer who tortured Rousseff when she was a young resistance fighter.
While serving as Bolsonaro's defense minister, Braga Netto--who rose to the rank of army captain during the dictatorship--once released an official statement arguing that the 1964 coup should be "understood and celebrated."
Marcelo Rubens Paiva--a Brazilian writer whose father, Rubens Paiva, was disappeared by the military dictatorship in 1971--tweeted earlier this week that Bolosnaro chose Braga Netto as his running mate "not to raise or aggregate votes, but to consolidate his power, with someone obedient and allied to a coup."
\u201cWill Bolsonaro follow the Bolivia coup model? It was 3 steps \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf4\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7\n\n1) Refuse to recognize electoral defeat \n\n2) Frenzied violence by organised fascist lynch mobs\n\n3) Military/police step in with excuse of 'ending the chaos' artificially engineered in Step 2\u201d— Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9 (@Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9) 1656519196
A group of Brazilian Jewish academics, jurists, and politicians this week published a manifesto calling on voters to "defeat Nazi sympathizers" by voting for da Silva in the first round, for "if there is a second round, [Bolsonaro] points to the possibility of a military coup."
"Bolsonaro made it very clear that he is not just any extremist," they wrote. "In his statements, he showed his contempt for women, Blacks, Indigenous people, LGBT+, and all minorities, and his willingness to fight--if possible to destroy--everything that was not in accordance with their militia lifestyle and pining for fascism."
The manifesto cited Bolsonaro's "deconstruction of human rights, salary squeezes and high prices, [and] contempt for science--which officially claimed the lives of almost 700,000 people" during the Covid-19 pandemic.
\u201c"If you take the vaccine for Covid-19 you might become an alligator", said Bolsonaro trying to scare people so we don't get vaccinated.\n\nBrazilian gays taking the vaccine:\n\nhttps://t.co/g4xFFtCDOi\u201d— Ronaldo Trancoso Jr (@Ronaldo Trancoso Jr) 1626654089
It also notes the return of hunger--which was largely eradicated during the Lula and Rousseff administrations--the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and murder of its Indigenous inhabitants and defenders, and the "gradual strangulation" of the press.
"We have reached the point where all of this can change," the statement's signers asserted. "The elections are approaching, although the militiamen--street or digital--organize themselves to silence the polls and the justice system."
"The polls will be the battleground and the vote our weapon," they added. "We have the obligation and the challenge to defeat fascism."
Donald Trump’s attacks on democracy, justice, and a free press are escalating — putting everything we stand for at risk. We believe a better world is possible, but we can’t get there without your support. Common Dreams stands apart. We answer only to you — our readers, activists, and changemakers — not to billionaires or corporations. Our independence allows us to cover the vital stories that others won’t, spotlighting movements for peace, equality, and human rights. Right now, our work faces unprecedented challenges. Misinformation is spreading, journalists are under attack, and financial pressures are mounting. As a reader-supported, nonprofit newsroom, your support is crucial to keep this journalism alive. Whatever you can give — $10, $25, or $100 — helps us stay strong and responsive when the world needs us most. Together, we’ll continue to build the independent, courageous journalism our movement relies on. Thank you for being part of this community. |
Amid fears that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro could attempt a military coup if he loses this October's presidential contest, a group of U.S. congressional Democrats this week proposed a measure that would suspend security aid to Brazil if its armed forces intervene in the election.
Brasilwire's Brian Mier first reported that Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 which, if approved, would require the secretary of state "to review actions by Brazilian armed forces related to that country's October 2022 presidential elections and to consider such actions under statutory guardrails on U.S. security assistance."
"It calls for the discontinuation of security assistance," an insider with knowledge of the measure told Mier. Such assistance to Brazil consists mostly of joint military exercises and six-figure financial support. U.S. President Joe Biden has requested $800,000 in international military education and training funds for Brazil next fiscal year.
\u201cBreaking: Led by Congressman Tomasz Malinowski, a group of 6 Democratic lawmakers have added an amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that threatens to cut off aid to Brazil's military if it undermines this year's Presidential elections. https://t.co/12zE8H6hdA\u201d— BrianMier (@BrianMier) 1657156843
The unnamed insider characterized the proposed NDAA amendment as "basically a way of saying, 'you need to consider whether these actions amount to a coup because, if so, that would necessitate cutting off U.S. assistance.'"
As Bolsonaro and his allies continue their unfounded attacks on the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system, recent polls show him trailing former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva--who is running for the office again after being cleared of corruption charges last year--by double digits.
Bolsonaro, who decades ago declared his intention to stage a coup if he was ever elected president, has said he may not accept the results of the election if he loses under the current voting system.
His running mate, Walter Braga Netto, recently told a group of Brazilian business leaders that the armed forces will not honor the results of October's election unless the Superior Election Court changes the ballot system.
Related Content
The last time there was a military coup in Brazil--many progressive observers consider the 2016 impeachment and ouster of former President Dilma Rousseff, also of da Silva's leftist Workers' Party, a political coup--it was backed by the United States.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a naval task force to the South American country as far-right elements of the Brazilian military deposed Joao Goulart, the democratically elected president, and his progressive government. Two decades of military dictatorship followed. The regime's forces were trained--including in torture--by U.S. agents.
Bolsonaro, a former army paratrooper who rose through the ranks during and after the dictatorship, has repeatedly praised the brutal regime, under which tens of thousands of people were tortured, murdered, and disappeared. He also infamously honored as a "national hero" a former army officer who tortured Rousseff when she was a young resistance fighter.
While serving as Bolsonaro's defense minister, Braga Netto--who rose to the rank of army captain during the dictatorship--once released an official statement arguing that the 1964 coup should be "understood and celebrated."
Marcelo Rubens Paiva--a Brazilian writer whose father, Rubens Paiva, was disappeared by the military dictatorship in 1971--tweeted earlier this week that Bolosnaro chose Braga Netto as his running mate "not to raise or aggregate votes, but to consolidate his power, with someone obedient and allied to a coup."
\u201cWill Bolsonaro follow the Bolivia coup model? It was 3 steps \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf4\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7\n\n1) Refuse to recognize electoral defeat \n\n2) Frenzied violence by organised fascist lynch mobs\n\n3) Military/police step in with excuse of 'ending the chaos' artificially engineered in Step 2\u201d— Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9 (@Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9) 1656519196
A group of Brazilian Jewish academics, jurists, and politicians this week published a manifesto calling on voters to "defeat Nazi sympathizers" by voting for da Silva in the first round, for "if there is a second round, [Bolsonaro] points to the possibility of a military coup."
"Bolsonaro made it very clear that he is not just any extremist," they wrote. "In his statements, he showed his contempt for women, Blacks, Indigenous people, LGBT+, and all minorities, and his willingness to fight--if possible to destroy--everything that was not in accordance with their militia lifestyle and pining for fascism."
The manifesto cited Bolsonaro's "deconstruction of human rights, salary squeezes and high prices, [and] contempt for science--which officially claimed the lives of almost 700,000 people" during the Covid-19 pandemic.
\u201c"If you take the vaccine for Covid-19 you might become an alligator", said Bolsonaro trying to scare people so we don't get vaccinated.\n\nBrazilian gays taking the vaccine:\n\nhttps://t.co/g4xFFtCDOi\u201d— Ronaldo Trancoso Jr (@Ronaldo Trancoso Jr) 1626654089
It also notes the return of hunger--which was largely eradicated during the Lula and Rousseff administrations--the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and murder of its Indigenous inhabitants and defenders, and the "gradual strangulation" of the press.
"We have reached the point where all of this can change," the statement's signers asserted. "The elections are approaching, although the militiamen--street or digital--organize themselves to silence the polls and the justice system."
"The polls will be the battleground and the vote our weapon," they added. "We have the obligation and the challenge to defeat fascism."
Amid fears that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro could attempt a military coup if he loses this October's presidential contest, a group of U.S. congressional Democrats this week proposed a measure that would suspend security aid to Brazil if its armed forces intervene in the election.
Brasilwire's Brian Mier first reported that Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Susan Wild (D-Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 which, if approved, would require the secretary of state "to review actions by Brazilian armed forces related to that country's October 2022 presidential elections and to consider such actions under statutory guardrails on U.S. security assistance."
"It calls for the discontinuation of security assistance," an insider with knowledge of the measure told Mier. Such assistance to Brazil consists mostly of joint military exercises and six-figure financial support. U.S. President Joe Biden has requested $800,000 in international military education and training funds for Brazil next fiscal year.
\u201cBreaking: Led by Congressman Tomasz Malinowski, a group of 6 Democratic lawmakers have added an amendment to the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that threatens to cut off aid to Brazil's military if it undermines this year's Presidential elections. https://t.co/12zE8H6hdA\u201d— BrianMier (@BrianMier) 1657156843
The unnamed insider characterized the proposed NDAA amendment as "basically a way of saying, 'you need to consider whether these actions amount to a coup because, if so, that would necessitate cutting off U.S. assistance.'"
As Bolsonaro and his allies continue their unfounded attacks on the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system, recent polls show him trailing former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva--who is running for the office again after being cleared of corruption charges last year--by double digits.
Bolsonaro, who decades ago declared his intention to stage a coup if he was ever elected president, has said he may not accept the results of the election if he loses under the current voting system.
His running mate, Walter Braga Netto, recently told a group of Brazilian business leaders that the armed forces will not honor the results of October's election unless the Superior Election Court changes the ballot system.
Related Content
The last time there was a military coup in Brazil--many progressive observers consider the 2016 impeachment and ouster of former President Dilma Rousseff, also of da Silva's leftist Workers' Party, a political coup--it was backed by the United States.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a naval task force to the South American country as far-right elements of the Brazilian military deposed Joao Goulart, the democratically elected president, and his progressive government. Two decades of military dictatorship followed. The regime's forces were trained--including in torture--by U.S. agents.
Bolsonaro, a former army paratrooper who rose through the ranks during and after the dictatorship, has repeatedly praised the brutal regime, under which tens of thousands of people were tortured, murdered, and disappeared. He also infamously honored as a "national hero" a former army officer who tortured Rousseff when she was a young resistance fighter.
While serving as Bolsonaro's defense minister, Braga Netto--who rose to the rank of army captain during the dictatorship--once released an official statement arguing that the 1964 coup should be "understood and celebrated."
Marcelo Rubens Paiva--a Brazilian writer whose father, Rubens Paiva, was disappeared by the military dictatorship in 1971--tweeted earlier this week that Bolosnaro chose Braga Netto as his running mate "not to raise or aggregate votes, but to consolidate his power, with someone obedient and allied to a coup."
\u201cWill Bolsonaro follow the Bolivia coup model? It was 3 steps \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf4\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7\n\n1) Refuse to recognize electoral defeat \n\n2) Frenzied violence by organised fascist lynch mobs\n\n3) Military/police step in with excuse of 'ending the chaos' artificially engineered in Step 2\u201d— Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9 (@Ollie Vargas \ud83e\uddc9) 1656519196
A group of Brazilian Jewish academics, jurists, and politicians this week published a manifesto calling on voters to "defeat Nazi sympathizers" by voting for da Silva in the first round, for "if there is a second round, [Bolsonaro] points to the possibility of a military coup."
"Bolsonaro made it very clear that he is not just any extremist," they wrote. "In his statements, he showed his contempt for women, Blacks, Indigenous people, LGBT+, and all minorities, and his willingness to fight--if possible to destroy--everything that was not in accordance with their militia lifestyle and pining for fascism."
The manifesto cited Bolsonaro's "deconstruction of human rights, salary squeezes and high prices, [and] contempt for science--which officially claimed the lives of almost 700,000 people" during the Covid-19 pandemic.
\u201c"If you take the vaccine for Covid-19 you might become an alligator", said Bolsonaro trying to scare people so we don't get vaccinated.\n\nBrazilian gays taking the vaccine:\n\nhttps://t.co/g4xFFtCDOi\u201d— Ronaldo Trancoso Jr (@Ronaldo Trancoso Jr) 1626654089
It also notes the return of hunger--which was largely eradicated during the Lula and Rousseff administrations--the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and murder of its Indigenous inhabitants and defenders, and the "gradual strangulation" of the press.
"We have reached the point where all of this can change," the statement's signers asserted. "The elections are approaching, although the militiamen--street or digital--organize themselves to silence the polls and the justice system."
"The polls will be the battleground and the vote our weapon," they added. "We have the obligation and the challenge to defeat fascism."
Any such effort, said one democracy watchdog, "would violate the Constitution and is a major step to prevent free and fair elections."
In his latest full-frontal assault on democratic access and voting rights, President Donald Trump early Monday said he will lead an effort to ban both mail-in ballots and voting machines for next year's mid-term elections—a vow met with immediate rebuke from progressive critics.
"I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly 'Inaccurate,' Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election," Trump wrote in a social media post infested with lies and falsehoods.
Trump falsely claimed that no other country in the world uses mail-in voting—a blatant lie. According to International IDEA, which monitors democratic trends worldwide, at least 34 nations allow for in-country postal voting of some kind. The group notes that over 100 countries allow out-of-country postal voting for citizens living or stationed overseas during an election.
Trump has repeated his false claim—over and over again—that he won the 2020 election, which he actually lost, in part due to fraud related to mail-in ballots, though the lie has been debunked ad nauseam. He also fails to note that mail-in ballots were very much in use nationwide in 2024, with an estimated 30% of voters casting a mail-in ballot as opposed to in-person during the election in which Trump returned to the White House and Republicans took back the US Senate and retained the US House of Representatives.
Monday's rant by Trump came just days after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Trump claimed commented personally on the 2020 election and mail-in ballots. In a Friday night interview with Fox News, Trump claimed "one of the most interesting" things Putin said during their talks about ending the war in Ukraine was about mail-in voting in the United States and how Trump would have won the election were it not for voter fraud, echoing Trump's own disproven claims.
Trump: Vladimir Putin said your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting… he talked about 2020 and he said you won that election by so much.. it was a rigged election. pic.twitter.com/m8v0tXuiDQ
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 16, 2025
Trump said Monday he would sign an executive order on election processes, suggesting that it would forbid mail-in ballots as well as the automatic tabulation machines used in states nationwide. He also said that states, which are in charge of administering their elections at the local level, "must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do."
Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, which tracks voting rights and issues related to ballot access, said any executive order by Trump to end mail-in voting or forbid provenly safe and accurate voting machines ahead of the midterms would be "unconstitutional and illegal."
Such an effort, said Elias, "would violate the Constitution and is a major step to prevent free and fair elections."
"We've got the FBI patrolling the streets." said one protester. "We've got National Guard set up as a show of force. What's scarier is if we allow this."
Residents of Washington, DC over the weekend demonstrated against US President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in their city.
As reported by NBC Washington, demonstrators gathered on Saturday at DuPont Circle and then marched to the White House to direct their anger at Trump for sending the National Guard to Washington DC, and for his efforts to take over the Metropolitan Police Department.
In an interview with NBC Washington, one protester said that it was important for the administration to see that residents weren't intimidated by the presence of military personnel roaming their streets.
"I know a lot of people are scared," the protester said. "We've got the FBI patrolling the streets. We've got National Guard set up as a show of force. What's scarier is if we allow this."
Saturday protests against the presence of the National Guard are expected to be a weekly occurrence, organizers told NBC Washington.
Hours after the march to the White House, other demonstrators began to gather at Union Station to protest the presence of the National Guard units there. Audio obtained by freelance journalist Andrew Leyden reveals that the National Guard decided to move their forces out of the area in reaction to what dispatchers called "growing demonstrations."
Even residents who didn't take part in formal demonstrations over the weekend managed to express their displeasure with the National Guard patrolling the city. According to The Washington Post, locals who spent a night on the town in the U Street neighborhood on Friday night made their unhappiness with law enforcement in the city very well known.
"At the sight of local and federal law enforcement throughout the night, people pooled on the sidewalk—watching, filming, booing," wrote the Post. "Such interactions played out again and again as the night drew on. Onlookers heckled the police as they did their job and applauded as officers left."
Trump last week ordered the National Guard into Washington, DC and tried to take control the Metropolitan Police, purportedly in order to reduce crime in the city. Statistics released earlier this year, however, showed a significant drop in crime in the nation's capital.
"Why not impose more sanctions on [Russia] and force them to agree to a cease-fire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?" asked NBC's Kristen Welker.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday was repeatedly put on the spot over the failure of US President Donald Trump to secure a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Rubio appeared on news programs across all major networks on Sunday morning and he was asked on all of them about Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin ending without any kind of agreement to end the conflict with Ukraine, which has now lasted for more than three years.
During an interview on ABC's "This Week," Rubio was grilled by Martha Raddatz about the purported "progress" being made toward bringing the war to a close. She also zeroed in on Trump's own statements saying that he wanted to see Russia agree to a cease-fire by the end of last week's summit.
"The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire, and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire," she said. "So where are the consequences?"
"That's not the aim of this," Rubio replied. "First of all..."
"The president said that was the aim!" Raddatz interjected.
"Yeah, but you're not going to reach a cease-fire or a peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented," Rubio replied. "That's why it's important to bring both leaders together, that's the goal here."
RADDATZ: The president went in to that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting, and they didn't agree to a ceasefire. So where are the consequences?
RUBIO: That's not the aim
RADDATZ: The president… pic.twitter.com/fuO9q1Y5ze
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2025
Rubio also made an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," where host Margaret Brennan similarly pressed him about the expectations Trump had set going into the summit.
"The president told those European leaders last week he wanted a ceasefire," she pointed out. "He went on television and said he would walk out of the meeting if Putin didn't agree to one, he said there would be severe consequences if he didn't agree to one. He said he'd walk out in two minutes—he spent three hours talking to Vladimir Putin and he did not get one. So there's mixed messages here."
"Our goal is not to stage some production for the world to say, 'Oh, how dramatic, he walked out,'" Rubio shot back. "Our goal is to have a peace agreement to end this war, OK? And obviously we felt, and I agreed, that there was enough progress, not a lot of progress, but enough progress made in those talks to allow us to move to the next phase."
Rubio then insisted that now was not the time to hit Russia with new sanctions, despite Trump's recent threats to do so, because it would end talks all together.
Brennan: The president told those European leaders last week he wanted a ceasefire. He went on television and said he would walk out of the meeting if Putin didn't agree to one, he said there would be severe consequences if he didn’t agree to one. He spent three hours talking to… pic.twitter.com/2WtuDH5Oii
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 17, 2025
During an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," host Kristen Welker asked Rubio about the "severe consequences" Trump had promised for Russia if it did not agree to a cease-fire.
"Why not impose more sanctions on [Russia] and force them to agree to a cease-fire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?" Welker asked.
"Well, first, that's something that I think a lot of people go around saying that I don't necessarily think is true," he replied. "I don't think new sanctions on Russia are going to force them to accept a cease-fire. They are already under severe sanctions... you can argue that could be a consequence of refusing to agree to a cease-fire or the end of hostilities."
He went on to say that he hoped the US would not be forced to put more sanctions on Russia "because that means peace talks failed."
WELKER: Why not impose more sanctions on Russia and force them to agree to a ceasefire, instead of accepting that Putin won't agree to one?
RUBIO: Well, I think that's something people go around saying that I don't necessarily think is true. I don't think new sanctions on Russia… pic.twitter.com/GoIucsrDmA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 17, 2025
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said that he could end the war between Russian and Ukraine within the span of a single day. In the seven months since his inauguration, the war has only gotten more intense as Russia has stepped up its daily attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.