Col Doug Macgregor: Russia Will End Ukraine War As They See Fit

Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store

Colonel Douglas Macgregor explained that Russia has pivoted away from the West toward Asia, deepening its ties with China, Japan, and the states of Central and Southwest Asia. President Putin, he said, sees no future with Europe or the U.S. and believes Western governments are weak and internally unstable. Russia’s main strategic concern remains its European front, but Putin expects that Western political and economic discontent will eventually cause those governments to falter.

Regarding the United States, Macgregor argued that President Trump understands the limits of U.S. military power and is unwilling to risk direct war with Russia, particularly over Ukraine. He noted that Trump backed off aggressive action (such as large missile strikes) after realizing America’s weakened military readiness, and he recognizes that Russia will ultimately dictate the outcome of the war on terms favorable to itself.

Macgregor warned that while the U.S. could easily overpower Venezuela militarily, such an intervention would achieve little and invite long-term instability, resentment in Latin America, and economic burdens. He described the spectacle of “easy victories” in weak nations as good political theater but poor strategy.

He criticized Washington’s habit of assuming that more money alone can fix military problems, calling U.S. military power “in a state of decline” that would take a decade or more to reverse. He attributed this to neglect of human capital, overreliance on expensive weapons systems, and slow modernization of key areas like shipbuilding and submarine production.

Drawing historical parallels, he said the post-Vietnam U.S. military took years to rebuild effectiveness, culminating in the success of Desert Storm—but that subsequent interventions, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, repeated past mistakes of overextension. He warned that Venezuela could follow the same pattern: an easy entry but a difficult and costly exit. Trump, he said, should declare victory quickly and withdraw if he intervenes at all, to avoid repeating those historical failures.