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# The U.S.–Ukraine policy shift.
- URL: https://www.readtangle.com/us-ukraine-policy-shift/
- Published: 2026-10-21T15:50:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T15:50:06.000Z
- Description: Plus, has Russia expanded its war efforts in the past year?
- Author: Will Kaback
- Tags: Ukraine, Russia Ukraine War, Ukraine funding, GOP Ukraine, Ukraine military, Russia, Donald Trump, Trump administration, Foreign policy, Europe, Elon Musk, Volodomyr Zelensky, Starlink

Welcome to the mid-week; this is **Senior Editor Will Kaback**. The next two weeks are going to be exceedingly U.S.-centric as Election Day nears, but **an equally important story is playing out in Ukraine**. The war’s dynamics are changing rapidly and alliances are being tested, all while the prospects of peace remain murky. 

We’ve got everything you need to know on these latest developments, then we look back at **how our coverage of the war from one year ago has aged**. Plus, we launch something new. 

It’s a **13-minute read**. 

Ari Weitzman, Isaac Saul, Audrey Moorehead, Carina Pacheco, Russell Nystrom, Isaac Wood, and Bailey Saul edited or contributed to today’s newsletter. 

### The debut.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/93/4a939b47-6a19-4b38-a13c-89d5a0f0d6dd/content/images/2026/10/image--20--1.png)

Yesterday, Executive Editor Isaac Saul [announced](https://www.readtangle.com/hey-its-isaac/) *A Grain of Saul*, a new iteration of an old favorite column where he’ll share fresh perspectives on politics and culture. Today, he publishes his first piece, exploring a frequently discussed — albeit sensitive — question: Are Americans just stupid? 

[Check it out here](https://www.readtangle.com/are-americans-just-stupid/).

### Quick hits.

1. Vivek Ramaswamy’s (R) campaign for Ohio governor released an advertisement featuring the mother of his opponent, Amy Acton (D), claiming her daughter is a liar and urging voters not to elect her. Acton’s campaign released a statement from her brother highlighting the siblings’ estrangement from their mother and her relationship with their stepfather, who was charged with sexually assaulting Acton when she was 12\. ([The advertisement](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/21/ramaswamy-ad-acton-mother-ohio?ref=readtangle.com))
2. President Donald Trump announced an anti-fraud initiative that will give payouts to whistleblowers who alert the government to fraudulent activity. YouTuber Nick Shirley, who published videos on alleged fraud in Minnesota and California, will reportedly receive $10,000 through the program. ([The announcement](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6160787-trump-vance-whistleblower-program/?ref=readtangle.com))
3. The United Kingdom will send fighter jets to support Saudi Arabia’s defenses as it faces ongoing attacks by Houthi militants. ([The support](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/20/britain-sends-fighter-jets-defend-saudi-arabia-amid-houthi-attacks/?ref=readtangle.com))
4. The National Association of Realtors reported that the pending home sales index dropped to a record low in September amid rising mortgage rates. ([The report](https://www.reuters.com/business/us-pending-home-sales-tumble-record-low-september-2026-10-20/?ref=readtangle.com))
5. Italy said it will deploy 500 troops to Milan in response to protests and riots in the city over the weekend. ([The deployment](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/20/500-soldiers-with-police-powers-to-be-deployed-to-milan-after-unrest?ref=readtangle.com))

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### Today’s topic. 

The U.S.–Ukraine relationship. On Wednesday, October 14, Ukrainian officials [reported](https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ukraine-accuses-spacex-crippling-drone-missions-ties-with-us-worsen-2026-10-14/?ref=readtangle.com) that its access to the services it uses to coordinate drone missions was hampered, signaling a potential shift in U.S. policy toward the country amid its war with Russia. The disruption came on the heels of a deal to [buy Russian diesel](https://www.readtangle.com/russia-diesel-deal/), an executive order [lifting](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/10/implementing-the-lindsey-o-graham-sanctioning-russia-and-iran-act-of-2026/?ref=readtangle.com) sanctions passed by Congress in September, and comments from President Donald Trump [accusing](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117463828588421761?ref=readtangle.com) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of not wanting to end the war. 

Ukraine uses SpaceX Starshield, an upgraded military version of its Starlink satellite internet service, to power both its offensive and defensive drone operations. Although Ukraine reported its connectivity was restored on Thursday, President Zelensky [said](https://kyivindependent.com/planned-operation-zelensky-confirms-ukraines-starlink-access-not-fully-restored/?ref=readtangle.com) that the speed of its connection was still degraded over the weekend. “We lose both drones and connectivity,” he said.

Both President Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [deny](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-16/trump-says-he-didn-t-order-ukraine-s-starshield-access-limits?taid=6ad28119a5a13b00011ed8dd&ref=readtangle.com) involvement in Ukraine’s disconnection. “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately \[the president\],” Musk [wrote](https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/ukraine-accuses-spacex-crippling-drone-missions-ties-with-us-worsen-2026-10-14/?ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=%22Any%20limits%20on%20speed%20or%20usage%20are%20decided%20by%20the%20US%20military%20and%20ultimately%20POTUS%2C%22%20Musk%20wrote%20on%20the%20%E2%80%8Bsocial%20media%20platform%20X%2C%20using%20the%20acronym%20for%20president%20of%20the%20United%20States.%20Musk%20is%20a%20close%20political%20ally%20of%20Trump%27s.) on X. Meanwhile, Trump [stated](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-16/trump-says-he-didn-t-order-ukraine-s-starshield-access-limits?ref=readtangle.com), “I don’t know if it was anybody because it wasn’t me, and I don’t think it was Elon,” adding that “from what I understand, it’s the same as it’s always been.” 

Reporting since then has cited anonymous sources who contradict those statements. On Thursday, citing “two U.S. officials and one Western official,” Reuters [reported](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/order-limit-starshield-ukraine-came-inside-white-house-sources-say-2026-10-15/?ref=readtangle.com) that the order to throttle Ukraine’s Starshield service came from the White House. Then on Friday, The Telegraph [reported](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/10/16/musk-approached-trump-slow-down-starlink-help-ukraine/?ref=readtangle.com) that Musk approached Trump about shutting off the service and that the Trump administration had warned Ukraine that it could do so if the country didn’t stop its campaign of bombing Russian oil infrastructure. The Wall Street Journal [reported](https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraine-starlink-elon-musk-trump-dbc49193?ref=readtangle.com) on Tuesday that Musk ordered the slowdown. 

On Monday, President Trump appeared to absolve Russia of its recent strikes. “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine” and “they haven’t been doing much,” Trump [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/world/europe/ukraine-war-zelensky-trump.html?ref=readtangle.com). Later on Monday, Zelensky [said](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-trump-putin-strikes-no-intelligence/?ref=readtangle.com) that Russia hit Ukraine with missile and drone strikes overnight with “no warning from our partners.” 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio [stressed](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/20/rubio-zelensky-trump-directive-harm-ukraine-putin?ref=readtangle.com) that the U.S. was not seeking to deliberately harm Ukraine, further denying that the White House restricted its Starshield access. Rubio took a 45-minute call with Zelensky on Tuesday, ahead of a round of peace talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff aimed at presenting Putin with a peace deal. “No doubt there are tensions,” Rubio said. “That is why we had the call.”

Below, we’ll get into what the right and left are saying about the latest with Ukraine and the United States. Then, Senior Editor Will Kaback gives his take.

| What the right is saying. The right is mixed, with some criticizing the Trump administration for the Starshield slowdown.Some say a U.S. summit with Russia and China would sow division among the GOP.Others support Trump’s response to Zelensky’s actions. |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

**In National Review, Dan McLaughlin argued** [**“there are no good answers”**](https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/10/the-starshield-whodunit/?ref=readtangle.com) **for Ukraine’s cut-off defense shield.** 

“The latest fiasco from the Trump administration involves the apparently deliberate outage of the Starshield system that assists the defense of Ukraine from Russia’s war. This is, rightly, a major national security scandal,” McLaughlin wrote. “Whatever this is, it’s neither responsible behavior nor good domestic politics, which is why nobody is claiming responsibility… There has been surprisingly little effort put into denying that this happened or constructing any counternarrative.”

“If the decision came from the Trump White House, either at the direction of the president or of his political operatives, it is likeliest that it was done for reasons of politics, statecraft, or some murky and self-convinced combination of the two… In any event, simple stonewalling seems unlikely to work,” McLaughlin said. “A bipartisan group of nine senators… have called for an investigation. Pretending that this is going away will not be an option.”

**The New York Post editorial board said a summit with Russia and China would** [**“blow up the Republican Party.”**](https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/opinion/trump-going-for-yalta-2-with-putin-and-xi-would-blow-up-gop/?ref=readtangle.com)

“If President Donald Trump wants a full-on riot within the Republican Party, going along with Vladimir Putin’s idea for a ‘Yalta 2’ summit with Xi Jinping is the way to do it,” the board wrote. “\[The 1945 Yalta Conference between the U.S., Britain, and Soviet Union\] was a meeting of *allies* — this new one would be Trump volunteering to be outnumbered by our determined foes… Yet the biggest problems start long before any sitdown. 

“However much Trump thinks he can work with Xi, however charmed he is by Putin, doesn’t matter: Simply announcing he means to do this would instantly prompt all-out rebellion by much of the GOP, further sinking the party’s chances in the midterms,” the board said. “For all Trump’s desire to end the carnage in Ukraine, this won’t do it: Putin’s looking to win via diplomacy what he can’t on the battlefield, and would be happy to see it destroy Trump’s presidency as an added bonus.”

**In PJ Media, Scott Pinsker suggested** [**“Zelensky doesn’t have the cards.”**](https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2026/10/15/ukraine-turns-on-trump-and-zelensky-just-failed-his-churchill-moment-n4958343?ref=readtangle.com)

“According to Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump has joined Russia’s side — and now our partnership is over,” Pinsker wrote. “Foreign policy disputes are seldom singular; this one is no exception. There’s the sky-high casualty count on both sides, the risk of escalation, and Russia’s nuclear arsenal. But the recent finger-pointing has to do with President Trump wanting to purchase Russian diesel fuel — and Ukraine targeting Russian refineries with American weapons, intelligence, and military assistance.”

“It’s obvious why Ukraine is attacking Russian refineries: Kill the Russian economy, and you kill the Russian war machine… It’s equally obvious why President Trump vehemently opposes the idea: American workers and American farmers need diesel,” Pinsker said. “Zelensky isn’t an angel, and he isn’t a demon. He’s a Ukrainian nationalist. He has his national interests — and so do we… He wants America’s interests to align with Ukraine’s, and not the other way around. It’s the exact wrong strategy at the exact wrong time.”

| What the left is saying. The left says Trump’s actions show clear favor for Russia.Some suggest a summit with Putin would yield bad results for Ukraine and Trump.Others argue that Ukraine should have control over its future. |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

**In The New Yorker, Susan B. Glasser called Trump’s recent actions a** [**“pivot to Putin.”**](https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/trumps-october-surprise-is-a-pivot-to-putin?ref=readtangle.com)

“\[Trump\] finally decided to begin openly helping Vladimir Putin in Russia’s war of conquest against Ukraine,” Glasser wrote. “The latest twist in Trump’s years-long flirtation with outright support of the Russian war effort began last Friday, after the President held a lengthy call with Putin and announced that he was waiving energy sanctions on Russia to purchase hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel — in an attempt… to bring down surging prices.”

“He began a drumbeat of accusations against Zelensky, blaming him and not Russia for the ongoing war, demanding that Ukraine stop attacking Russian energy facilities, and even calling for the Ukrainian President’s ouster,” Glasser said. “After U.S.-supplied Starlink satellite service temporarily went down in advance of another large-scale Russian attack, Zelensky spoke publicly of the rift as all but a permanent break… Demanding that Ukraine fire Zelensky is hardly the rallying cry that Americans are looking for in this season of our own discontent.”

**In Slate, Fred Kaplan argued the summit** [**“won’t go well for Trump — or for Ukraine.”**](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/10/putin-trump-ukraine-russia-china-xi-jinping-summit.html?ref=readtangle.com)

“Zelensky recently admitted that if Trump proceeds on this course, if the United States officially allies with Russia in this war, Ukraine cannot possibly win,” Kaplan wrote. “And all this — Putin’s proposal for a summit, Trump’s waiver of anti-Russia sanctions, and… the severe limiting of Elon Musk’s satellite feeds to Ukraine — comes at a time when Ukraine had been making some headway in the war and Russia had been suffering enormous setbacks… The question at the moment is this: Will Trump actually agree to attend this summit?”

“The lambasting that Trump has received for his diesel-fuel deal and his waiver of Russian sanctions — not only from almost all Democrats but from many Republicans — may have surprised him, and given him a taste of the outrage he’d incite by taking another step toward full appeasement of Putin,” Kaplan said. “We can hope, but, as the saying goes, hope is not a strategy — nor can it offer any insight into how Trump might weigh his desperation for recognition as a powerful leader against the consequences of abandoning Ukraine.”

**The Guardian editorial board criticized** [**“diplomacy of the strong for the strong.”**](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/19/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-putin-ukraines-future-is-not-theirs-to-bargain-away?ref=readtangle.com)

“Does Vladimir Putin know exactly how to play Donald Trump?” the board asked. “The history of chummy phone calls, high-profile meetings and attempts to bring Russia in from the cold certainly suggests that Moscow’s thuggish ruler has a hold on this American president. If Mr. Trump agrees to negotiate Ukraine’s future with Mr. Putin and China’s Xi Jinping without Ukraine at the table, he will have handed the Russian leader a victory before talks begin. 

“Ukraine has the right to determine its future. That right cannot be waved away by a self-serving Russian proposal, however much it indulges Mr. Trump’s belief that world affairs should be settled by powerful men,” the board said. “Trumpian America is raising doubts about whether it will help deter aggression or even honour its Nato commitments. If Washington now rewards Moscow and pressures Ukraine to accept a raw deal, it would be a betrayal.”

| My take. Will Kaback Senior Editor ![Will Kaback](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/93/4a939b47-6a19-4b38-a13c-89d5a0f0d6dd/content/images/2025/05/Will-Square.jpg)                                                                                                                                              |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Supporting Ukraine has obvious short- and long-term benefits, and I’m highly alarmed that the White House doesn’t seem to appreciate that.Warming up to Putin doesn’t help us — even at the pump.I can only hope Trump will reverse course as he’s done in the past; otherwise this pivot is a huge mistake. |
| **Reminder:** This is where we share a personal opinion. If you have feedback, criticism or compliments, leave a comment or reply to this email.                                                                                                                                                             |

Between President Trump’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia, his openness to a trilateral meeting with Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi and the suspicious disruption of Starshield services in Ukraine, the White House is doing everything except saying out loud that it is turning on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people. 

I think this is bad — full stop. I consider Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine not just an attack on a geopolitical ally but a moral affront, and I think abandoning Ukraine would be a strategic blunder. I see virtually nothing to gain from cozying up to Russia under the [pretense](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117463828588421761?ref=readtangle.com) that Putin will be amenable to peace negotiations if he’s given sanctions relief. 

Outside of the White House, these moves have little support. Writers on both sides, including many who typically back the administration, were nearly uniform in their opposition to the past week’s developments. The Trump-friendly New York Post editorial board (under “What the right is saying”) went so far as to [invoke](https://nypost.com/2026/10/19/opinion/trump-going-for-yalta-2-with-putin-and-xi-would-blow-up-gop/?ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=That%20%E2%80%9Cpeace%20in%20our%20time%E2%80%9D%20deal%20ensured%20that%20British%20Premier%20Neville%20Chamberlain%20would%20go%20down%20in%20history%20as%20one%20of%20history%E2%80%99s%20greatest%20chumps.) Neville Chamberlain regarding Trump’s openness to meeting with Putin and Xi. The closest thing we could find to a defense of Trump’s turn away from Ukraine was from Scott Pinsker at PJ Media (also under “What the right is saying”), who argued that Zelensky is motivated by ego and power. Pinsker didn’t explicitly defend Russia, but he essentially shrugged at Ukraine’s fate and said Trump has no obligation to care, either. 

If it were true that Ukraine was some tiny, irrelevant state whose fate meant nothing to the U.S., I could understand Pinsker’s sentiment, even if I still disagreed. But it isn’t true. 

The United States has much at stake in the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Start with the geopolitical implications: A Ukrainian surrender after the U.S. pulls its support would signal unwillingness to assist in future conflicts involving other allies (like, say, Taiwan). It would also call America’s broader credibility into question; if you’re a U.S. partner in the Middle East and see Trump abandon Ukraine just after starting a destabilizing war in your region, the incentive to maintain ties with the U.S. over Russia or China becomes much weaker. Relatedly, what message would it send to NATO allies? Could Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states trust that the U.S. would come to their defense against further Russian aggression?

Maybe you’re swayed by America First principles, and these possibilities in Europe don’t worry you. But even in terms of pure, selfish national interest, the U.S. still has much to gain from continuing to back Ukraine. The country’s pioneering development of drone technology makes it a powerful ally for current and future conflicts. As the writer Noah Smith [said](https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-non-drone-militaries-are-obsolete?ref=readtangle.com) in May, “Ukraine’s intensive use of drones has allowed them to inflict casualty rates as high as 5 to 1 on the Russian army in recent months, while giving up little or no territory… In just the past year, Ukraine went from using just a few thousand \[First-Person View\] drones per day to using around 60,000.” In June, defense experts at the Council on Foreign Relations [credited](https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-ukraines-drone-innovation-reversed-russias-momentum?ref=readtangle.com) Ukraine’s drone strategy with reversing Russian territorial gains and “making it easier for Ukraine to sustainably defend itself.” 

To put the value of Ukraine’s military expertise in concrete terms: The U.S. is currently fighting a war with Iran, which is [mimicking](https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2026/03/iran-drones-shahed-us-lessons?ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=Iran%20is%20using%20similar,China%2C%20and%20North%20Korea.) Russia’s drone strategy (high-volume deployments designed to overwhelm air defenses) to successfully target U.S. personnel and assets. Maintaining an alliance with Ukraine, a nation on the cutting edge of drone operations, provides both insights and direct, material support to the U.S. military in the Middle East. Ukraine’s expertise could prove exponentially more valuable to us in the long run than abandoning them to save some money or broker a lopsided peace deal.

Deep down, President Trump must understand the value Ukraine offers; just a few months ago, the countries [signed](https://www.rferl.org/a/us-ukraine-drone-cooperation-agreement/33809808.html?ref=readtangle.com) a statement of intent for a new defense partnership focused on drone development, including exporting Ukrainian combat drones to the United States for military testing. What’s more, our continued support costs relatively little. As Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) [noted](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/10/19/ukraine-needs-elon-musk-allow-starlink-over-russia/?ref=readtangle.com) this week, “Ukrainians have created the most efficient and lethal homegrown military industrial base in the world, one that can innovate and manufacture at the speed of the battlefield. The major backing Ukraine needs from the U.S. is intelligence and assistance with ballistic missile defense.” And while Trump bemoans the amount of military aid the U.S. has sent Ukraine, Congress hasn’t approved new spending on Ukraine [since April 2024](https://www.cfr.org/articles/how-much-us-aid-going-ukraine?ref=readtangle.com#:~:text=HOW%20MUCH%20AID%20HAS%20THE%20UNITED%20STATES%20PROVIDED%20UKRAINE%3F). Trump also neglects to mention the [benefits](https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-supporting-ukraine-revitalizing-us-defense-industrial-base?ref=readtangle.com) from past appropriations, as Ukrainian contracts with U.S. manufacturers support American workers, suppliers, and defense production capacity. 

I’m not breaking any news here — we’ve known all of this for some time. So why the sudden change from the White House? The simplest explanation is that President Trump is trying to bring down energy prices ahead of the midterms, as he was with [last week’s diesel deal](https://www.readtangle.com/russia-diesel-deal/). But just like that agreement, waiving sanctions on Russia is unlikely to meaningfully affect prices in the next two weeks, even if Ukraine scales back its strikes on Russian energy infrastructure. 

I also think Trump’s actions are personal. Zelensky is a wartime president who is constantly pushing for more support and resources and linking the West’s fate to Ukraine’s. I don’t blame him, but this posture is [not the kind of diplomacy that Trump responds well to](https://www.readtangle.com/trump-zelensky-oval-office-meeting/). Trump was [clearly irritated](https://www.axios.com/2026/10/10/trump-ukraine-zelensky-replace-putin-diesel?ref=readtangle.com) by Zelensky’s refusal to pause strikes on Russian energy infrastructure (note: Russia hasn’t stopped its own strikes, either) after Trump’s unilateral push for a ceasefire. I suspect part of the motivation for the recent decisions is a desire to bring Zelensky to heel. 

It’s hard to know how much further Trump might push for a leadership change or whether he’s deploying the now-familiar move of ramping up pressure on an ally in pursuit of a larger goal. Either way, the Starshield slowdown speaks volumes. The blame game has quickly become convoluted here, but the [latest reporting](https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraine-starlink-elon-musk-trump-dbc49193?ref=readtangle.com) indicates that Elon Musk was the catalyst for the decision, with tacit support from Trump. Musk [reportedly](https://www.reuters.com/investigations/musk-ordered-shutdown-starlink-satellite-service-ukraine-retook-territory-russia-2025-07-25/?ref=readtangle.com) did this before — in the war’s first year — and now he and the president are playing an unconvincing game of pretending to have no idea who could be responsible for a directive only a handful of people on Earth could have given. Whoever is responsible, it’s cause for alarm in Ukraine, as the service is [critical](https://www.dw.com/en/how-reliant-is-ukraine-on-the-us-controlled-starlink-internet-service/a-79689729?ref=readtangle.com) to supporting its aforementioned drone operations, and the slowdown forces their drones to fly blind over a certain speed. If the slowdown continues, the consequences for Ukraine could quickly spiral. 

As I said before, I think the U.S. has several reasons to continue supporting Ukraine, and I’m alarmed that the Trump administration apparently cannot appreciate them. But it’s too early to say outright that the U.S. has abandoned Ukraine or sided with Russia. Remember: The Trump–Zelensky relationship has looked beyond saving before, only for Trump to reverse course — as recently as July, he was [praising](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/08/shift-trump-praises-zelensky-will-let-ukraine-build-patriot-missiles/?ref=readtangle.com) Zelensky and giving his approval for Ukraine to build Patriot missiles (although that deal is [now being held up](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/19/amid-deteriorating-relations-washington-holds-up-patriots-kyiv/?ref=readtangle.com)). The president is fickle, and as difficult as that makes foreign relations, it also means he could reverse course. For now, I can only hope that Trump is engaging in gamesmanship and doesn’t go much further down this path. If he’s sincere, I hope influential voices in the administration can pull him back from the brink of irreversible moves. If the president’s vindictiveness and short-sighted politicking help Russia triumph in its detestable war, it will be a failure of the highest order.

| Staff concurrence. Ari Weitzman Managing Editor ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/93/4a939b47-6a19-4b38-a13c-89d5a0f0d6dd/content/images/2025/05/Ari.jpg)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| I want to zero in on one specific element of this story to demonstrate why the White House’s response to Ukraine’s Starshield outage is so gratuitously bad.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is often cast in the role of “adult in the room,” [had this to say](https://www.kyivpost.com/post/87400?ref=readtangle.com) on Saturday after Zelensky claimed their connectivity was restored but impaired: “Starshield is a contract with the U.S. military, it has nothing to do with Ukraine. I know Ukraine wants access to Starshield, they do not have Starshield now.”  Rubio’s current stance is to [deny](https://x.com/clashreport/status/2112782772054163705?ref=readtangle.com) the White House’s involvement and stress that SpaceX’s decisions are their own. But out of the gate, his stance was to castigate Zelensky. “I’m not sure Zelensky knows what he’s talking about,” Rubio also said on Saturday.  But… Ukraine does have access to Starshield, and I’m pretty sure the Ukrainian president would know that. Why would Rubio deny this? I can only think of two options: Either he’s the one who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, meaning the administration’s most sober-minded foreign policy official is way off base, or Trump wanted to full-press a denial of this story and sacrificed Rubio’s credibility in the effort. I honestly don’t know which one’s worse, but both answers indicate a White House flailing in its foreign policy. |

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### Your questions, answered.

**Has Russia expanded its war beyond Ukraine?**

**— Note to self, September 16, 2025**

**Managing Editor Ari Weitzman:** Last September, we covered the latest with [the Russia–Ukraine war](https://www.readtangle.com/russia-incursion-into-poland-romania-nato-article-4/), when Romania and Poland both reported Russian drones had violated their airspaces. At the time, Isaac professed three opinions: The U.S. sending jets and tanks to Ukraine would *not* trigger World War III, Russia would push to expand the front beyond its existing borders, and Trump took too long to see that Putin was the aggressor. 

Isaac got some pushback from readers for all three of these points, but they have proven mostly correct. His third point is proving relevant again today, as President Trump is once again criticizing Ukraine for not capitulating. His first point has also proven correct so far, as European responses to Putin haven’t provoked a broader, global war. The one position that hasn’t been as obviously correct is the second point — that Russia would expand its war beyond Ukraine.

As of this moment, Russia’s only active war front in Europe is within Ukraine’s borders. Looking back on what *exactly* Isaac wrote, though, makes this much more fraught. “Russia doesn’t have the military might to take on all of Europe (it has struggled to make headway against just Ukraine). However, Putin can try to fracture trust among the alliance by stress-testing its defenses and forcing difficult decisions about the best response to Russian aggression,” Isaac said. And if you look at all the “accidental” airspace incursions in Europe, this claim could be correct, too.

In March, a Russian Su-30 [briefly entered](https://www.reuters.com/world/estonia-summons-russian-diplomat-after-russian-jet-violates-estonian-airspace-2026-03-19/?ref=readtangle.com) Estonian airspace. In May, a Russian GERAN-2 drone [struck](https://abcnews.com/International/russian-drone-hits-romanian-apartment-building-ukraine-border/story?id=133413525&ref=readtangle.com) a residential building in Romania, injuring two people. More recently, in September, Germany [accused](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/02/g-s1-141502/germany-russia-attempted-drone-attack?ref=readtangle.com) Russia of an August attempt to attack Leipzig-Halle Airport with drones. All in all, according to the Center for European Policy Analysis, frontline NATO states and Moldova have incurred [17 attacks](https://cepa.org/article/russian-strikes-rise-across-natos-eastern-flank/?ref=readtangle.com) in the past month with either suspected or proven Russian ties. None of these events have opened a new front, but they all support the theory that Russia has been probing the European alliance over the past year.

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### The extras.

- **One year ago today** we covered [the ongoing government shutdown](https://www.readtangle.com/the-government-shutdown-continues).
- **The most clicked link in our last regular newsletter** was our [new video on fear-based political ads](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbMCeI19PPE&ref=readtangle.com).
- **Nothing to do with politics:** Watch [how tiny snakes creatively escape danger](https://www.sciencenews.org/article/tiny-snakes-cartwheel-escape-video?ref=readtangle.com).
- **Our last survey:** 2,048 readers responded to our survey on the protests and riots in France, with 73% saying dissatisfaction with the government is contributing to the ongoing unrest. “People are tired of their governments not working for them. They’re tired of the rich and powerful becoming richer and more powerful while they work multiple jobs to afford basic necessities and ever-increasing rent,” one respondent said. “Immigration itself is not the problem, but it must happen in a measured, orderly fashion, with assimilation into the native culture,” said another.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4a/93/4a939b47-6a19-4b38-a13c-89d5a0f0d6dd/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-3f61b2da-813c-4b94-ae1d-1a12af98d03d.png)

### Have a nice day.

It’s October, which means it’s pumpkin season. Many associate pumpkins with autumnal farm outings or jack-o’-lantern carving, but some take things to the next level. Earlier this month, Half Moon Bay, California, hosted the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, drawing thousand-pound pumpkins and crowds of festive onlookers. In Stillwater, Minnesota, competitors raced in homemade gourdian boats in the pumpkin regatta, followed by a spectacular display of pumpkin *smashing*. [The Associated Press has highlights from both events](https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/photos-show-giant-pumpkins-vying-heavyweight-glory-pumpkin-season-gets-underway-4cfeccfe96fc421cb5322f9fad5199b2?ref=readtangle.com).