Trump and his whooshing deadlines

Whatever happens at the upcoming Alaska summit, U.S. President Donald Trump will go on setting deadlines and then missing them.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in Japan in June 2019. With no leverage in Moscow, Trump's recent deadline for a Russian ceasefire in Ukraine passed unmentioned, writes Gwynne Dyer.White House photograph by Shealah Craighead

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

August 11, 2025

LONDON, U.K.—“I love deadlines,” said Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” United States President Donald Trump sets deadlines for more complicated reasons that purport to b...

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