TAPPED: The Art of the Deal Behind the Deal

For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus Molly McKew (writer and lecturer on Russian influence and information warfare) joins Ron to break down a whirlwind of revelations about Trumpworld’s back-channel contacts with the Kremlin—and what they mean for Ukraine’s survival. Molly explains the leaked call where envoy Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on how to influence Donald Trump. She details why this behavior is wildly outside diplomatic norms and directly weakens Ukraine on the battlefield. Then, they unpack Russia’s rejection of a new “19-point plan,” what Putin actually wants, and how these negotiations are designed to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Europe. Molly shares harrowing firsthand updates from Ukrainian units living under “complete drone saturation,” and delivers a clear message from the front: Ukraine is still fighting for its democracy—and they need U.S. support now more than ever. Giving thanks for Ukraine! To support equipment requests for our frontline communicators and psyop-ers in Ukraine, you can use this link: paypal.me/MollyKMcKew Related Reading: WSJ - Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine Find our sponsor links and promo codes here: https://bit.ly/44uAGZ8 Get 15% off OneSkin with the code RON at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Send your questions and ideas to podcast@politicology.com or leave a voicemail at ‪(703) 239-3068‬ Follow Ron and Molly on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/RonSteslow https://x.com/MollyMcKew Email your questions to podcast@politicology.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪‪(703) 239-3068‬ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices