'Coincidence? Not even close': Ex-Trump operative blows up White House narrative

Donald Trump and the media insist on one version of events, but a former Trump associate insists there's more to the story.

Trump recently completed a phone call with Putin, which the media has reported led to no progress in halting the war on Ukraine. A follow-up call with Ukraine's leader was reported as having featured Trump offering some assistance.

But there's more to the call with Ukraine's leader, according to Lev Parnas, a former associate of Trump who worked on issues related to Ukraine during the president's first term.

Parnas on his Substack flagged a devastating attack on Ukraine right after the call with Trump, saying, "The attack wasn’t random. It was systematic, with multiple drones launched in waves designed to overwhelm air defense systems. Targets included civilian zones, energy infrastructure, and transit hubs, with some of the heaviest activity tracked near Kirov Oblast—a name that’s now entering military dispatches as a hub for these new tactics."

According to Parnas, the attack was directly connected to Trump's publicized calls with foreign leaders.

"This is Putin’s escalation, timed perfectly after Trump’s back-to-back calls with him and then with Zelensky. Coincidence? Not even close," the ex-associate said, before blowing up the White House's (and the media's) description of the call.

"According to the press, Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was 'productive' and 'supportive.' But my sources—inside the room—tell a different story," he said. "Trump made no commitments to deliver weapons. He vaguely mentioned that he’d 'look into' retrieving U.S.-supplied arms that were held up. But as I’ve told you for weeks, this is part of a calculated delay tactic."

According to Parnas, "Donald Trump has no intention of sending Ukraine the weapons it needs."

"The strategy is simple: stall the Ukrainians, comfort Putin, and let the situation in eastern Ukraine deteriorate while Washington is distracted with optics," the ex-insider added. "I’m also hearing credible intel about a large-scale Russian troop buildup in the Sunni region, with over 50,000 troops mobilizing. The kind of movement that signals a major new offensive—one that could shift the war."

Read the piece here.