TRUMP TOLD UKRAINE THEY HAD “NO CARDS” — LAST NIGHT THEY HIT RUSSIA’S SPACE PROGRAM
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In February 2025, Donald Trump publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, dressing him down in front of the world’s media. “Your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning,” Trump snarled. “You don’t have the cards.” The Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave the White House, and Washington briefly suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Trump was wrong. Spectacularly wrong.
Last night, Ukraine launched domestically built Flamingo cruise missiles at the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, 560 miles from Ukrainian territory. This is Russia’s only facility that assembles Soyuz rockets, the same rockets Vladimir Putin needs to launch his Rassvet satellite network, Russia’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink. A fire broke out on site. Ukraine didn’t just play a card, it struck at Russia’s space program.
That attack follows months of Ukrainian drones hitting Russian oil refineries more than 800 miles from the border. In June, drones sent black smoke billowing over St. Petersburg just as Putin’s flagship economic forum opened. Russia is now rationing gasoline, with long lines at pumps across the country. Putin has been forced to ban fuel exports. A major world oil producer can’t keep its own gas stations running.
Meanwhile, Trump’s unnecessary war with Iran has killed at least 15 American service members and wounded more than 500, dragging past five months with no end in sight. A Pew survey of 36 nations found only 23% express confidence in Trump’s global leadership. Donald Trump’s foreign policy is becoming one of the worst of any modern presidency, and the entire world is watching.

