Trump asleep at the wheel after Russia bombs NATO allies: analysis

U.S. President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Russia is now bombing NATO countries, and it appears that President Donald Trump is asleep at the wheel.

Writing on Monday, MS NOW producer Steve Benen sounded the alarm about an incoming disaster visible on the horizon.

A Wall Street Journal report last week quoted several world leaders in Europe as saying that they fear Russian President Vladimir Putin is about to go beyond Ukraine and look at the countries he can go to war with next in an effort to grow the former Soviet Union back to its original borders.

"Russian drones have repeatedly crashed without causing casualties along the Danube River border between Romania and Ukraine since 2023. But the drone crash on Friday, on the roof of a residential compound in the port city, Galati, sharply escalated tensions between NATO and Moscow," The New York Times reported.

On Friday, a Russian drone hit an apartment building. The incident was condemned by world leaders, and even Trump's ally and NATO ambassador, Matthew Whitaker, reaffirmed the U.S.'s commitment to NATO, promising that the U.S. was ready to defend Europe.

Trump, by contrast, has remained silent. It's unusual, Benen said, because he loves to beat his chest and project strength.

Hitting a building in Romania isn't merely a one-off. Benen explained that it is a pattern with Russia. Last fall, Russian drones entered Polish airspace. NATO pilots shot them down.

Then, Russian pilots violated Estonian airspace.

Benen added that none of these "tests" happened under non-Trump administrations. It makes Trump's "weakness toward Vladimir Putin ... especially humiliating," he wrote. The GOP has similarly been quiet.

"In recent weeks, the Republican president has repeatedly criticized NATO as a 'paper tiger' because its members chose not to participate in his misguided war with Iran, but he has offered no comparable criticisms of Russia for incidents inside NATO member nations," Benen closed.

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