Donald Trump's Biggest Failure as President

Last Tuesday, February 24, 2026, marked four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—a war launched under the orders of Vladimir Putin that sought to topple the government in Kyiv and reassert Moscow’s dominance over its neighbor. What began in 2022 as a lightning assault became a protracted, grinding war that has redefined the geopolitical landscape.

Central to this anniversary is the lingering shadow of President Trump’s most famous boast: that he could settle the war within 24 hours of taking office. During the 2024 campaign, this claim served as a powerful rhetorical device, contrasting a "helpless" establishment with his self-styled image as the world’s ultimate dealmaker.

Trump has been in office for more than a year now, and all statutes and allowances on hyperbole have long expired. For all the supposed negotiating and deal-making skills of the President and his “Special Envoy” Steve Witkoff, all the high- and low-profile meetings in different cities around the world, it’s fair to say we’re no closer to a peace deal than Jan 2025. Or Feb 24, 2022, for that matter.

We’ll watch an excellent 16-minute video that attempts to explain why this is so, and what the US could do about it, and then we’ll talk about it. I claim no neutrality on this particular issue, and you can guess from these lines which way I lean, but I’m open to arguments from the other side as to why Trump’s strategy so far on this tragedy makes sense.

Once we’ve exhausted this topic, we can talk over other current events, whether overseas or at home. The situation in and around Iran? The tenuous peace in Gaza? The killing of a cartel boss in Mexico? Trump’s State of the Union speech? Success of his first year in office? The future of his tariff policy? DHS shutdown? Or something else altogether? There is never a shortage of topics to choose from.

Zoom credentials will be provided on the day of the event.