In War, Trump and Putin Are Much Alike — SkimNews
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- Russia's economy shifted from a projected 2026 budget deficit to a predicted surplus by March as oil prices surged from the Strait of Hormuz closure; Washington simultaneously suspended sanctions on Russian oil exports.
- US forces fired more than 800 Patriot interceptors in three days against Iran—exceeding the total Ukraine received in four years—while the Pentagon moved to divert roughly $750 million in NATO-supplied Ukraine funding to restock US inventories.
- Pete Hegseth declared "maximum lethality, not tepid legality" and "no quarter, no mercy for our enemies"; the Pentagon cut its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response staff by nearly 90 percent, lowered the lethal-force threshold, and expanded target categories.
- Trump threatened to "obliterate" Iranian power plants and bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages," rhetoric the piece compares directly to Russia's repeated strikes on Ukraine's power grid.
- Russia reportedly provided Iran with targeting intelligence on US warships and aircraft in the Gulf; the Trump administration dismissed its own intelligence on the cooperation, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying "it does not really matter."
- Tulsi Gabbard's DNI assessment to the Senate Intelligence Committee found Iran's nuclear enrichment program was already "obliterated" with no rebuilding efforts—contradicting one of Trump's stated war justifications—though she omitted the finding in her public testimony.
Why it matters: The Iran war's clearest winner is Moscow: oil revenues turned Russia's 2026 deficit into a surplus, US sanctions on Russian oil were suspended, and roughly $750 million in NATO Ukraine funding was redirected to US stockpiles—while 800+ Patriots were expended in three days against Iran versus four years of supplies to Kyiv. Meanwhile, US doctrine and rhetoric now echo the methods Washington once condemned Russia for using in Ukraine.
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