One of President Donald Trump's chief campaign promises was to end the brutal war in Ukraine on Day 1 of his second term. It would seem that almost 100 days into his new presidency, negotiating global conflicts cannot be done through social media or purely with false bravado.
After months of sucking up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump was uncharacteristically critical of Russia's approach to negotiations for peace in Ukraine. It's clear Trump is becoming frustrated that he isn't yet able to take credit for brokering a deal. So he posted this odd message on social media on April 26.
"There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days," Trump wrote. "It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along."
That came after weeks of Trump's Cabinet seeming more sympathetic to Putin's effort in Ukraine, going so far as to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for starting the war. On April 28, Putin announced a three-day ceasefire in May to honor the 80th anniversary of Victory Day.
Trump is smart enough to realize when he's been played, but not sharp enough to realize it before it happens or man enough to admit that he was wrong. Americans were painfully aware that Putin was just stringing Trump along, but his failure to recognize that fact has given Russia even more leverage at the negotiating table, pushing the prospect of peace further down the road.
In his revelation that Putin might be dishonest, Trump has exposed his naivety when it comes to navigating international affairs, particularly involving dictators.
Most Americans could have told him that Putin could not be trusted to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine in good faith, but somehow, Trump is just now figuring that out.
Just 12% of Americans have any confidence at all that Putin will do the right thing in world affairs.
When Zelenskyy attempted to make this point in the Oval Office in February, he was barked at by both Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who smeared him as ungrateful. The Trump administration's collective reaction to that incident gave Putin even more leverage in an already advantageous position.
Peace is not Putin's desire: Ukraine is. To little surprise, Putin is not prioritizing action that will make negotiations go over more smoothly.
"Nobody's playing me," Trump insisted recently, even when it was clear to everyone else that Putin was not being an honest party in negotiations.
I wonder if he still thinks that.
And who could fault Trump? When your idols speak, you will likely take what they say as the truth. Trump has spent years sucking up to and defending Putin.
Trump likes to pretend to be a strongman, but Putin is a legitimate killer. His career in the intelligence world has primed him to be able to read people like Trump, as a wannabe strongman who gets played by real ones.
Trump sees himself as a negotiating partner, but his interest in the conflict is selfish.
After cutting off vital American support for Ukraine, forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table from an extremely weak position, Trump's involvement is only so that he can take credit for brokering a deal to end the conflict.
It's better late than never for Trump to recognize Putin for who he is, and I do hope that the discussions Trump has had with Zelenskyy recently have been productive steps towards peace.
Nonetheless, Americans should reflect on Trump's handling of the Ukraine situation and what it says about his abilities when it comes to foreign affairs.
If Trump can't recognize that Putin, of all people, has ulterior motives, how can we possibly trust him to navigate other issues of foreign affairs?
How can we trust that he can handle nearly 100 trade deal negotiations? How can we trust him to navigate the now-delicate relationship with many of our European allies? How can we trust that he can counter the threat of China if he can't even realize Putin's deceit?
Trump's personal shortcomings in the foreign policy arena were less significant in his first term, when he had far more experienced advisers who had dealt with foreign presidents and dictators alike for decades.
This time around, there's a glaring lack of competence in his administration.
Trump's primary interest in foreign policy is forcing countries to come to him for negotiations so that he can feel like the big man in the room. Between his volatile tariffs and temper tantrums against Zelenskyy, Trump has made it clear that he wants countries to come to him to strike a deal.
His campaign promise to end the war on Day 1 has failed, and Trump seems frustrated that the Ukraine war is not something he can check off his list.
Trump's second-term foreign policy ditches the coherence of his first and gives way to his true Trumpian nature.
Because the GOP has given so much deference to Trump's wishes, America and our allies will suffer, while our enemies take advantage of our president's weakness.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.