Republished with permission from Lucian K. Truscott IV

By agreeing to release from Russian prisons Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American editor working for Radio Free Europe, a news station funded by the federal government, Putin drove a stake through the ambitions of Donald Trump to be the one who achieved the prisoners’ release.

“Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else,” Trump claimed on his social media account as recently as May. Trump went on to allege that Gershkovich “will be released almost immediately after the Election, but definitely before I assume Office.”

Nope. Putin, not one to miss a chance to gamble at the Big Table with his arch enemy, the United States, made the decision to place his chips on black, not red this time, and permitted his negotiators to work with representatives of the Biden administration using Turkey as a middleman to achieve the complex prisoner swap announced today giving the win to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, tried to claim today that the prisoner swap took place only because of Trump’s strength. When questioned about Vance’s statement at a White House briefing this afternoon, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan answered, “I don’t follow,” one of the great put downs of all time.

Trump has made similarly grandiose claims throughout his presidential campaign, telling rally audiences that he will end Russia’s war against Ukraine on “day one” if he is elected and takes office next January. That he would achieve the end of the war by denying Ukraine American support and forcing the beleaguered country to negotiate an end to the war on Russia’s terms is not mentioned by Trump at his rallies.

Every time one of Trump’s extravagant claims encounters reality, it’s another blow not only to Trump’s campaign, but his ego. Mr. “I alone can fix it” showed no propensity for such talents or results during his four years in office. Now that he is a former president out there begging for votes, his braggadocio rings even more hollow.

If you have any doubts, just ask Vladimir. He just cast his vote for who he thinks is going to win.

By the way, greeting Gershkovich and Whelan when they deplane at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington D.C. tonight will be their families, accompanied by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Take a guess at who won’t be there.