You Now Think He Is Winning This War?

Donnie, my friend, explain yourself.
Yesterday you called him difficult.
Said he had no cards against me.
Today you shake his hand,
pat his shoulder,
admire his resolve
while cameras follow like light-hungry sunflowers.

At NATO summit they cheer him again.
Baltic "neighbors" all signed drone deals.
Denmark signed its own drone deal.
Even Holland joined in on the drone fun.
Factories promise engines,
steel wings that never sleep
and soon will reach Vladivostok.

You now think he is winning this war?

Winning?
No, no—
I know what winning looks like.
Parade columns. Missiles. Maps.
Television hosts smiling on command.
History rewritten before breakfast.
I invented tomorrow's headlines years ago.

Yet every month
another package,
another contract,
another flag appears behind him.
Funny how small countries
cast such long shadows.

They should know their place.
Instead they manufacture inconveniences.

They even clap and egg him on.

Donnie,
remember when you admired strength?
Strength was simple then.
One man.
One table.
One telephone call.
Now everyone keeps handing him
another microphone and another deal to sign.

You now think he is winning this war?

Look what they celebrate.
Not conquered cities.
Not surrendered armies.
Only endurance:
Another winter survived.
Another bridge repaired.
Another road drone-proofed.
As if refusing to surrender
has become a military strategy.

Ridiculous.

And yet...

Every sanction I dismissed
returns wearing a different uniform.
Every drone they build
teaches another drone to fly.
Every alliance I called fragile
learns another way to hold together.

Even you, Donnie.

You praised him.
Out loud.
That was unexpected.
Felt like a stab in the back.

Once, I merely had to wait.
Democracies argued.
Coalitions cracked.
Politicians made BREXIT happen,
Corrupted by my money and
Elections erasing yesterday's promises.

Now they still argue—
and somehow sign the drone deals anyway.

You now think he is winning this war?

No.

You think something far worse.

You think time has changed sides.

You think a man without my army,
without my television,
without my prisons,
without my carefully edited victories,
can still persuade nations
to spend fortunes
simply because they believe
he is worth defending.
Because he is still standing.

I still have missiles.
I still have speeches.
I still have nukes I can drop.

But you...

You didn't get his stupid joke
About not coming to Moscow
to negotiate as it's dangerous,
because of Ukrainian drones.
Still, you applauded him.

And for the first time, Donnie,

I am no longer asking whether
he is winning the war.

I am wondering
when everyone else
started believing it.

But more importantly, WHY
you now think he is winning this war?