Trump’s Reluctant Escalation: Long-Range Strikes and the Fractured Putin Bromance

In a dramatic pivot that has stunned observers, President Donald Trump has greenlit Ukraine’s use of long-range drones and missiles to target deep inside Russian territory—a move echoing the Biden administration’s late-stage escalations but born from Trump’s own mounting frustration with Vladimir Putin.

Announced over the weekend, this authorization allows Kyiv to strike Russian air bases, factories, and infrastructure far beyond the current front lines, potentially reaching up to 1,500 miles with U.S.-supplied Tomahawk cruise missiles if Trump fully approves their transfer.

It’s a policy shift that underscores not just tactical necessity but a deeper personal and geopolitical rift: Trump’s once-vaunted “great relationship” with Putin has curdled into resentment, as the Russian leader refuses to yield an inch in the Ukraine war. Yet, as Putin digs in with battlefield gains and economic resilience, Trump’s hand is forced—partly by his own dashed hopes, and partly by entrenched U.S. military-industrial pressures eager to keep the conflict simmering.