Trump has 'nothing left to lose' — and Putin has everything to win: Krugman

\U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman argued on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s increasingly open support for Russian President Vladimir Putin is really more about refusing to hide his longstanding support for the foreign leader.

In the column, Krugman warned that Trump’s weakening political position is making him more willing to indulge his authoritarian instincts, like Putin.

David Sanger's recent reporting for the New York Times walked through the president's efforts to rehabilitate Russia after years of war against Ukraine.

“Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine,” Trump claimed while speaking to reporters before leaving for a campaign rally.

“We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given nothing to us. Remember that," Trump complained.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky replied to Trump's comment with a photo of a baby girl who was dead in a stroller after another Russian bombing of civilians in a park near a cafe.

Krugman agreed with Sanger's assessment that Trump's support for a dictator like Putin is unusual from an American president.

"What makes Trump’s support for Putin even more remarkable is that Russia has, by many accounts, been actively aiding Iran against America in the war Trump started. Who says so? Well, among others, Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And the aid goes beyond intelligence sharing that has helped Iran target U.S. forces. Russia has also reportedly been sending Iran explosives and weapons components," said Krugman.

He wondered what Republicans would be saying if a Democratic president made the same move: "Even as that dictator was helping another nation kill American troops? They would be crying 'treason.' But this is all apparently 'fine' with Trump."

The reality is that Trump hasn't made a "pivot," the way the right appears to be claiming, said Krugman. When Trump claims "we" gave Ukraine "a lot," Krugman wondered what he means by "we," since Trump "cut off all economic and military aid to Ukraine as soon as he took office."

Krugman described it as a kind of "political bankruptcy" and the freedom to be the worst version of himself, which supports "corrupt, murderous dictators."

He also thinks that Trump resents Zelensky’s demonstrated courage.

The economist predicts much more is coming, largely because Trump has nothing left to lose if he flops in the midterms. Electoral pressures will no longer restrain the president and what he wants to get out of Putin.

"Trump can’t and won’t make America great again. But he can betray everything America stands for, and he’s doing it as we speak," Krugman closed.

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