Donald Trump is selling peace like it's going out of business.

After negotiating a ceasefire and rescuing hostages in the Middle East, President Trump now has a meeting scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Trump is going to try to negotiate an end to the Ukraine-Russia war. And it just might work.

“Yes, Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize,” waxed Marc A. Thiessen for the Washington Post. “His Gaza agreement, though still fragile, adds to an unprecedented peacemaking record.”

“Not only does Donald Trump deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, but there has arguably never been an American president who deserved it more,” contended Thiessen spiritedly.

“In his first term, Trump brokered not one, not two, not three, but four Arab-Israeli peace accords — the first such agreements in more than a quarter-century,” listed Thiessen. “The Abraham Accords alone were an achievement worthy of a Nobel Prize.”

Calling Trump’s “one of the greatest peacemaking records of any administration in U.S. history,” Thiessen went on thusly:

“Since returning to the White House, Trump has brought leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda together in the Oval Office to sign a peace agreement in their decades-long conflict that has left millions dead. He helped pressure India and Pakistan to end four days of fighting in May (Pakistan gives Trump credit, India does not). He helped negotiate an end to fighting between Thailand and Cambodia after Thailand launched airstrikes against Cambodia in July. He brought the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to the White House to sign a peace framework in their war over Nagorno-Karabakh. In what may be his greatest achievement for the cause of peace, he launched Operation Midnight Hammer obliterating Iran’s nuclear program, and then brought an end to the Iran-Israel war after just 12 days of fighting.”

“And that was before the deal Trump just brokered between Israel and Hamas to release all the remaining hostages held by the terror group.”

Soon, President Trump might have a new qualification to add to his list.

Mr. Trump announced on Thursday that he has arranged to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest next week to discuss ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

 While mainstream media outlets may attempt to shame Trump for his “shameless pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize,” such arguments only serve to demonstrate how twisted media outlets have become in their relentless (and ultimately fruitless) effort to Get Trump.

A U.S. President shamelessly pursuing a Nobel Peace Prize? 

Appalling.

Clear-thinking individuals of both parties welcome Trump’s peacemaking efforts wholeheartedly. Peace, after all, is preferable to war no matter who sits in the Oval Office.

After his other foreign policy successes, Trump’s administration is showing every intention of shifting into an even higher gear. Momentum is in Trump’s favor at the moment.

When it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war, other conditions favor Donald Trump as well.

Joe Biden is Out. Donald Trump is In.

Remember when then-President Joe Biden said, in answer to a journalist’s question, live on television, that if Russia launched a “minor incursion” into Ukraine, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal?

President Biden’s exact words were as follows:

“It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera. But if they actually do what they’re capable of doing with the force they’ve massed on the border, it is going to be a disaster for Russia if they further invade Ukraine.”

While the Biden administration was quick to walk back the President’s off-the-cuff remarks, as they so often did, it was too late. The damage was already done. 

Mainstream media outlets in the U.S. were careful to play down the flub and avoid widely reporting it; you can bet Vladimir Putin was listening and paying careful attention.

One month later, Putin launched his attack on Ukraine.

Putin had been laying the groundwork for an invasion of Ukraine since 2014, and probably before. He was biding his time, waiting for the right time. Under Joe Biden, Putin found that right timing.

Donald Trump is another story.

What might Trump do in the context of the war between Ukraine and Russia?

Who knows?

Trump’s Big Stick

Lest we forget, it was the first Trump administration post-2106 that sold more advanced U.S. weapons to Ukraine.

Not the Obama-Biden administration.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Donald Trump still has one ace in the hole of this terrible conflict. The U.S. has advanced weaponry that it has not shared with Ukraine.

Yet.

The threat of unleashing the full might of the U.S. arsenal will be a powerful arrow in the quiver of peace negotiations.

With carte blanche from the U.S. arsenal, Ukraine still would not be favored to win the war against Russia. But it could make Vladimir Putin’s life more miserable.

It would also result in the deaths of more of Putin’s countrymen.

Which is why Putin would be wise to end the conflict before someone counters his moves in Ukraine. Because:

Vladimir Putin Has Already Achieved His Goal

Like it or not, Russia is stronger today than when its war against Ukraine began in earnest. 

Russia’s currency is stronger, the market for Russian energy is bigger, Russia’s trade portfolio is more diversified, and Vladimir Putin is more popular than ever.

If Putin agrees to wind the conflict down now, he is likely to keep a great many of the gains he has made in Ukraine. If the conflict drags out further, Putin is more likely to reach the point of diminishing returns.

If Putin allows Trump to lead him back into the fold of world leaders, Putin gets to be the good guy for a minute. What’s more, Putin would get to do it in a way that would spite mainstream press outlets, who hate Donald Trump more than they ever dreamed of hating Putin.

Can’t Last Forever = Has to End Sometime

Why not now?

If Donald Trump is an astute negotiator and dealmaker, which he clearly is, he is bound to mention one irrefutable fact to Mr. Putin: “What can’t last forever has to end sometime.”

Trump comes from the world of high finance, billion-dollar real estate deals, and hostile takeovers. The owners of major corporations think about something most of us never consider: What’s the exit strategy?

Vladimir Putin engaged in a hostile takeover of Ukraine. After much bloodshed, he achieved success. 

What happens now? What is Putin’s plan to exit this war? What does success look like from Putin’s perspective?

When, how, and under what circumstances does the Russia/Ukraine conflict end?

If not now, when?

If not now, why not?

These are the questions a savvy negotiator is likely to ask. The answers to these questions might give the entire world reason for celebration in the coming weeks.

If Donald Trump is successful in brokering an end to the Ukraine crisis, his critics may finally have to give him the credit he deserves.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)