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Fox News veteran Brit Hume — no lightweight in foreign policy matters — told viewers on Special Report that President Trump appears to have soured on Vladimir Putin after recent developments and blunt exchanges between the two leaders. That frank assessment from a longtime conservative hand signals something important: the old story of affection between Trump and Putin is fraying into clear-eyed frustration.
The president himself has not been shy about the shift, publicly calling out Putin’s behavior and even warning the Russian leader that he is “playing with fire” as the war in Ukraine grinds on. Washington is witnessing a rare moment when tough talk and concrete pressure are moving into the same lane, and it is past time someone in power stopped treating Russian aggression as negotiable politeness.
Hume was blunt that Trump got played for months by Moscow’s games and that the president was misled about Putin’s intent — a point Hume underscored by saying Trump had been “jollied along” before seeing the real stakes. Conservatives who have long argued that realism must be matched with strength should welcome a president who finally seems unwilling to be deceived by autocrats.
Some on the left and in the foreign-policy blob will screech that this is flip-flopping, but reality is simple: recognizing an adversary’s true aims is not weakness, it is the precondition of winning. If the president has moved from naive optimism to purposeful leverage — using threats, tariffs, and the prospect of sanctions as bargaining chips — that is a policy of strength, not indecision.
We should also be clear-eyed about what comes next: words without teeth accomplish nothing. Reports that the administration is resuming arms shipments and considering targeted measures show a willingness to back rhetoric with action, and conservatives should press for the maximum pressure necessary to defend American interests and deter further aggression.
Now is the moment for patriots to stand behind leadership that finally appears ready to hold Putin accountable rather than excuse or romanticize him. The duty of government is the security of the nation and the liberty of its allies; if Trump’s souring on Putin leads to tougher, clearer policy that protects both, then conservatives should support it and demand follow-through.
