The Call, the Cover-Up, and the Colby Disaster

The Backroom Betrayal

The phone call I had been waiting for — the one I believed would mark the pivotal battle between the pro-Putin faction inside the White House and the national security wing of the Republican Party — finally happened at 10:00 A.M. yesterday.

After that post, Donald Trump went on to post nearly 30 more times. But not a single update about the call. Nothing. No “excellent” call. No “I asked” Putin anything. Radio silence.

Instead of taking a public position on social media — as he’s always done after his hour-long calls with Putin — Trump chose a different route. He told reporters that Putin isn’t going to stop.

I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said. I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.

Following the call with Putin, Trump also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron. And just like that, the pro-Putin lobby in Washington found itself in a spot of bother.

Elbridge Colby — yes, that Colby guy — the Under Secretary of Defense, quietly diverted multiple weapons shipments en route to Ukraine. It was a tactical move designed to block the national security wing of the GOP from nudging Trump closer to a balanced position between Russia and Ukraine. The pro-Putin lobby always has a trick up its sleeve around the time of Trump-Putin calls. This one was their biggest play yet.

But in doing so, Colby finally gave a face to the hidden pro-Putin network in Washington. At least Jake Sullivan — who’s arguably done more than anyone to help Putin — knows how to play the insider game. Colby doesn’t. He didn’t work the administration. He didn’t get approval. He just exploited the vacuum — the absence of a functioning National Security Advisor — and acted.

Look how dumb this guy is.

Normally, it should’ve been Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, who took the heat. But the brickbats are flying toward Colby — because he’s the one who exploited the system’s gaps and got himself painted into a corner.

Representative Michael McCaul of Texas made it clear:

“I think it’s all made by the DoD policy director, this Colby guy. We essentially don’t have a national security adviser. I’m not even sure [Secretary of State Marco] Rubio was consulted on this one … There’s internal division in the White House.”

Colby made the decision and thought he could slide back into the shadows. But Representative Michael McCaul lit him up — as brightly as possible.

This wasn’t the first time McCaul turned a spotlight on the pro-Putin machinery inside Washington. He’s the one who pulled back the curtain on Jake Sullivan, Biden’s National Security Advisor.

In a heated hearing with then–Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 22, 2024, McCaul said:

“Congress did not put restrictions on the use of these weapons. It’s Jake Sullivan and your administration that has put the restrictions on these weapons.… They cannot achieve victory with these restrictions.”

Note his words: Congress didn’t place any restrictions. It was McCaul — and many House Democrats — who worked their backs off to limit the double game the Biden administration was playing.

When Congress passed the $64 billion Ukraine aid package on April 24, 2024, it did something unprecedented: it told the administration what kind of weapons must be sent. The bill explicitly mandated ATACMS. It also required that the full amount be spent before September 30 under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA).

Why? Because without that pressure, the Biden administration would sit on the funds, delay aid, restrict ATACMS, and try to micromanage the pace of the war. And Jake Sullivan still tried. He shipped ATACMS — but in pitiful quantities. Still, he couldn’t stop the administration from booking the full PDA pipeline.

Thanks to that move by Congress, Ukraine still has a steady flow of critical weapons. That’s why Kyiv’s air-defense shield hasn’t collapsed. And many of the lawmakers who made it happen — from both sides of the aisle — will never get the credit they deserve.

Michael McCaul is no longer Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The pro-Putin lobby made sure of that. But he’s still smart. Still dangerous. And once again — he’s changed the rules of the game.

Donald Trump will now have no choice but to play both sides on the weapons issue. That’s the mess Colby created. But I’m fairly confident the shipments will resume. The administration is already showing signs of a backpedal.

The Institute for the Study of War reported this earlier today:

U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated on July 3 that Trump has indicated his "remaining commitment" to providing Patriot interceptors to Ukraine. She added that the United States "hasn't paused" weapons shipments, claiming the recent suspension was "one aspect, one situation, one event that has been changed."

Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell said on July 2 that the Department of Defense “paused” shipments to conduct a “capability review” — to ensure U.S. aid aligns with defense priorities while preserving military readiness.

Parnell also said the recommendations were consistent with President Donald Trump’s stated goal of ending the war in Ukraine.

So the twist they’re pushing now is: Yes, we paused — but just to take stock. Not to stop the weapons.

Oh, well.

None of this course correction would’ve happened if McCaul hadn’t let the entire world know who Colby is.

Thank you, sir.

I understand the urge to leave the United States behind and move forward. It’s the right instinct — and it will happen, one way or another.

But is that the best thing to do right now?

Ukraine depends on Patriot air-defense systems to protect its civilian centers. That shield only works if there’s a steady flow of interceptors. Even if Europe sends fighter jets tomorrow, it’ll take months before those make a difference.

How many lives must be paid between now and then — just so the world can say it’s “moved on” from the United States? There’s no question: Europe must take matters into its own hands. The dependency must shrink. But it has to decline gradually — percentage by percentage — not in one blunt, irreversible cut.

Until then, Donald Trump must be kept close to the midline between Russia and Ukraine.

Make no mistake: there are plenty of actors who want to protect the Putin regime — China, Iran, North Korea, segments within India, billionaire GOP donors who want Putin to break the European Union so they can plunder its consumer market, factions inside the Pentagon, and even elements within Europe itself.

Have they given up on trying to pull Trump closer to Putin? No. We just saw what they did — two days ago.

So why should we stop trying?

There’s no reason to.

Not trying is exactly what they want. We cannot give them that gift.

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