Trump Administration Does the Indefensible
[guest post by Dana]
Utterly monstrous and completely indefensible:
For days now, the State Department has remained mum about the news that it terminated a contract with a humanitarian group that was tracking the fate of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia after the Russian invasion. The revelation—which we first reported last week—suggests that the United States may now be in the position of helping Russia bury a potential war crime, complicating negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Yet the State Department won’t explain why this contract was terminated, or even how it happened at all.
But now this developing scandal has gotten worse. The underlying data collected in the course of tracking these children may have been deleted in connection with this contract’s termination, over a dozen members of Congress have now charged in a letter they just sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
What’s more, the group tracking them may have now lost access to the satellite imagery it has been using to track the children, the letter claims, which means untold numbers of them could disappear from the view of these monitors.
“If true, this could have devastating consequences,” the representatives write in their letter, which we obtained. The letter is spearheaded by Democratic Representative Greg Landsman of Ohio, and of its other signatories, two are Republicans: Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
The program had made some amazing progress in locating abducted Ukrainian children before it was frozen by the Trump administration:
Under the contract—which was first approved by the State Department under Joe Biden—the Yale University School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab has been using sophisticated technologies to identify and locate Ukrainian children taken by Russia. This has been widely labeled a war crime, including by the International Criminal Court, which indicted Russian leaders for it in 2023.
This Yale lab’s efforts produced dramatic results: It has located thousands of kids via satellite imagery, biometric data, and other means. In December, it announced the identities of 314 of these kids, and presented evidence before the United Nations Security Council that the abductions amounted to crimes against humanity under international law.
Note:
The contract had been frozen since January as part of the Trump-Musk funding freeze. But now, its termination by the State Department means something worse: The underlying evidence and data tracking the kids will not be transferred to Europol, the law enforcement arm of the European Union. Some of the evidence apparently also won’t be transferred to Ukraine.
I first wrote about this here. It is an abhorrent decision made by the Trump administration, and State Dept. What sort of ogres are not prioritizing the war crime of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia? This impulsive freezing of programs that appear to be a waste of money is appalling. Especially as it doesn’t seem like any sort of rigorous study and analysis is performed before said decisions are made. And are those responsible for the stoppage of programs intimately knowledgeable about the subject matter they are making crucial decisions about?
One thing is for sure: Ukraine is being hurt yet again by U.S. decisions, while Russia remains free to do what they want. What a disgusting message to send to democracies everywhere. It’s horrendous enough that Trump has repeatedly criticized Ukraine (and Canada!) more than he ever has Russia. It boggles the mind that we would do such harm to innocent children by cutting off and eliminating the possibility of them being located and reunited with their families. This makes me feel utterly ashamed of America before the world.
Completely indefensible.
This is what Russian troops think about Ukrainian children:
Russians share photos on social media: "This is a recent photo of my (soldier) friend. He has a scull of a fcking Ukrainian animal kid on the top of his rifle. We found (the kid's) body under ruins (of a building), partly eaten (by dogs)".
Russia has no right to exist. https://t.co/72T2QJrRXM— Sergej Sumlenny, LL.M (@sumlenny) March 19, 2025
—Dana
Hello.
Dana (7557a1) — 3/19/2025 @ 12:29 pmZelenskyy agreed to not strike energy infrastructure in Russia, which likely was the result of his call with Trump today. However, there is no agreement from Putin to not strike dwellings, schools, hospitals and churches, so his terrorist attacks will continue.
Once again, Zelenskyy is put at a disadvantage by this pro-terrorist president.
The story about deleted information on abducted Ukrainian children is just gravy on Trump’s malevolence.
Paul Montagu (6e4595) — 3/19/2025 @ 12:37 pmI think you’re being too hard on the Trump administration. I mean that sincerely I don’t think they intended this. I think it’s a result of stupidity and indifference.
Time123 (72d94e) — 3/19/2025 @ 1:00 pmPaul Montagu (6e4595) — 3/19/2025 @ 12:37 pm
There’s a lot of it. The question is, did anyone understand that the result of the termination of the contract (Rubio, by the way, seems to have been under pressure to eliminate about 80% of the contracts, or else maybe Musk or OMB would choose what to eliminate, and this could seem superfluous and/or incomplete) would mean the loss of information as to the whereabouts of many children.
Trump knows some things are wrong because he publicly stated that Elon Musk should cut with a scalpel rather than a hatchet but nothing much has changed except possibly the pace a little..
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 3/19/2025 @ 1:31 pmTime123,
Yes, stupidity and indifference, certainly, but Trump has also shown nothing but disdain for Ukraine and Zelensky while supporting Putin and Russia. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume a less than honorable motive to his purging of the program. Even a malevolent one – maybe born of ignorance but possibly targeting Ukraine too. My point is: Trump has done nothing that demonstrates he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Dana (5ae0ec) — 3/19/2025 @ 1:50 pmThe fact is that it happened, Sammy, and no one has stepped up reinstate this program.
Paul Montagu (6e4595) — 3/19/2025 @ 1:57 pmI don’t see how speculating about what people knew or their purported intentions is pertinent to anything. This program had an upfront and noble objective to rescue Ukrainian children, and this Trump administration killed it.
We can’t do anything! Our donors wont let us! Jefferies & schumer. If the people will lead the leaders will eventually follow. Tesla dealerships and owners are finding that out right now. Malcolm X said it best “By any means necessary!” What are you willing to do?
asset (645691) — 3/19/2025 @ 3:41 pmIntentions are nice, actions are more important.
I don’t see how they can’t have intended this since they’ve been saying they were going to do it for years.
When stupid Hitler tells you that he didn’t intend to do bad thing n+1, ignoring the n ever time kind of makes the assume-r just the a$$.
n=evil
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 3/19/2025 @ 3:52 pmAccording to the State Department’s press briefing today, zero data was lost and that portion of the story is a “conspiracy theory.” Additionally the spokesperson noted that Trump spoke directly about the missing children to Zelensky.
What I infer from the press conference is that the administration is well aware of the issue and is no longer outsourcing to Yale.
I am probably wrong.
BuDuh (f70c9a) — 3/19/2025 @ 4:22 pmI wonder if Trump brought with the kidnapper Putin. I am probably wrong.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/19/2025 @ 5:28 pmI’ve added a tweet that reveals what Russian troops think of Ukrainian children.
Dana (e53e9c) — 3/19/2025 @ 5:36 pmTrump’s policy with Ukraine and Russia is so monstrous now that it isn’t worth more that “Oy!” Those that support it need to go to Russia and live there.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/20/2025 @ 9:29 amRussia has something the US wants. The vast mineral and energy resources of the largest country on Earth. As things stand, Russia has nowhere to peddle them except China and they won’t get much of a price.
The US (and the West) has something Russia wants. The vast, diverse and competitive markets of Earth-other-than-China in which to sell their resources. That connection, which the Ukraine invasion broke, is existential to them. Without it they are a Chinese client state with no real future.
Biden was correct that his sanctions would devastate Russia, and they have. At this point, Putin is strapped naked over a barrel of alligators.
Yet Trump is acting like Putin has all the cards. There’s a reason there, of course, but it isn’t a good one.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/20/2025 @ 9:40 amA US president with Trump’s experience should be able to drive a negotiation that would leave Putin with the choice of keeping Urkaine but be put under world-wide interdict forever, or disgorging it entirely and maybe Georgia, too, and getting access to everything that Russia needs to grow to 1rst world status.
And yet. What is it? Is Putin threatening global thermonuclear war? Such a madman should be killed. Does Putin have film of Trump in a gay bathhouse? Does Trump want a chain of hotels in Russia and is so venial that he’s sell his country for them? Is Trump really a KGB plant?
He’s not THAT stupid or he’d be broke by now. It’s bewildering.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/20/2025 @ 9:48 amIt’s not surprising at all. Ever since Trump’s “perfect phone call” in 2019, and the failure of Ukraine to accede to his wishes, he has worked to at least punish, if not destroy Ukraine. During his first term he said he believed that Ukraine “interfered” in the 2016 election; a view backed by a number of current Republican senators during the first impeachment. And he continues to say that Ukraine, not Russia, started the war. He also has suspended all US government activities that threaten Russia: defending against Russian cyber attacks and cease offensive cyber operations and information operations against Russia; closing the Office of Net Assessment; voting with Russia against the EU/Ukraine UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion, etc. And he continually praises Putin, while deriding Zelensky.
It boils down to the fact he doesn’t want to drive a hard bargain with Russia, he wants to drive the hard bargain with Ukraine. It’s as simple as that; I don’t know why that is “bewildering.”
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/20/2025 @ 10:31 amIndeed, perfect…
Paul Montagu (f93fe0) — 3/20/2025 @ 11:46 pm