Top cardiologist puts Trump’s iffy health under the microscope

President Donald Trump nods off as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during an event about drug prices on Nov. 6, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House. AP

 

“'Easy to see' ailments do not comport with the effusive write-ups on Trump’s physical state"

by Oliver Willis

Daily Kos Staff 

Friday, August 28, 2026 at 7:30 AM MDT

REPUBLISHED BY:

Blue Country Gazette Blog

Rim Country Gazette Blog 

A high-profile heart doctor is raising concerns about the White House’s failure to fully disclose President Donald Trump’s health issues, and Trump’s team is lashing out in response instead of leveling with the public.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner made his case in an op-ed published in the New York Times on Thursday. Reiner is a professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University and served as former Vice President Dick Cheney’s cardiologist for 27 years, including from 2001-2009 when he was in office.Together, he and Cheney authored the book  “Heart: An American Medical Odyssey,” chronicling the former veep’s battle with heart disease.

In his column, Reiner noted that Trump has several ailments that are “easy to see” and do not comport with the effusive writeups on Trump’s physical state released by the current White House physician.

“Despite reassurances from the White House to the contrary, at times over the past year, the president has not looked well,” Reiner wrote. 

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Related | Trump’s new ‘do raises hairy questions about his health

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“Mr. Trump is probably the most photographed president in American history, and a variety of physical ailments are easy to see. He’s had large bruises on both hands, swelling in his legs and episodes when it appears that he is struggling to stay awake,” the doctor said. “He’s also had advanced imaging performed for unclear reasons. The public is again left to wonder whether the nation’s leader is OK.”

In May Dr. Sean Barbabella, the physician to the president, claimed in a report that Trump “remains in excellent health.” But Reiner said that the information released about Trump raises more questions than answers. 

He notes that Trump’s medical report said he spoke to more than 22 physicians but doesn’t say why he is seeing so many medical professionals. Reiner said the report doesn’t explain Trump’s skin discoloration, why his ankles continue to swell, his inability to stay awake, or why he has taken so many cognitive tests.

Drew Sheneman/Tribune Content Agency

In examining the cone of silence around Trump’s health, Reiner notes that Buckingham Palace keeps a similarly tight lid on King Charles’ medical issues but concludes, “The United States does not have a king. In a representative democracy, the people must have confidence in the health of their leader, and in the leader’s capacity to guide the nation.”

Reiner isn’t alone. For years now Trump’s appearance has led to viral videos and photographs of his condition, particularly in the context of his constant attacks on the health of Democrats like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden. Even photographs of Trump’s hair looking unnaturally thick after previous photos showed signs of thinning renewed questions about his health and apparent efforts to cover up the truth.

It doesn’t help that Trump himself has posted AI-enhanced photos of himself to hide blemishes and obvious signs of aging. 

As is often the case, the White House lashed out instead of taking Reiner’s questions seriously. 

“Jonathan Reiner is an asshat engaging in armchair diagnosis for political purposes. He is a disgrace to the medical profession,” administration spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement. 

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elated | Trump thinks an AI filter can mask his physical decrepitude

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Appearing on CNN, Reiner noted that the Trump White House gave the so-called “asshat” a certificate hailing the work of his medical unit within the past year. The doctor reiterated to the network that the angry response underlines “a picture of a president who has active medical issues who doesn’t appear well in public.”

If Trump is healthy and fine, there would be no need to bash doctors or hide the details of his medical status from the Americans he works for. Instead, the Trump administration continues the cover-up.

 

Drew Sheneman/Tribune Content Agency

 

 

Trump is clueless. His new attempt to troll Iran proves it.

President Donald Trump, shown in July.AP

"Iran is betting it can wait out that doddering old fool in the White House."

 

by kos

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday, August 25, 2026 at 6:01 PM MDT

 

REPUBLISHED BY:

Blue Country Gazette Blog

Rim Country Gazette Blog 

President Donald Trump’s “edgy” antics have lost their luster. Once upon a time, they roiled markets and created drama in world capitals. Now many just roll their eyes.

Trump’s latest trolling effort, coming via Truth Social, is the claim that the Strait of Hormuz is “U.S. territory."

On his withering Truth Social platform, Trump posted an image showing the Strait of Hormuz, with a circle encompassing parts of Iran, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. The caption: “New U.S. Territory.”

Truth Social (screenshot)

This has about as much credibility as his maps of annexed Canada and Greenland. In fact, given his losing war with Iran, the post is mostly a reminder of Trump’s impotence.

The war has left Iran effectively controlling the Strait, disrupting global shipping and roiling the world economy. And Trump’s much-ballyhooed ceasefire plan did nothing to solve the problem. Its vague language over control of the strait was so bad that Iran claimed the deal recognized its authority over the waterway. The agreement also promised $300 billion in reconstruction incentives if a final deal could be reached.

As one Emirati political strategist said at the time, “Iran saw the deal as a recognition it was in control. Now countries in the region are paying the price. … It’s a disaster, and we are back to square one.”

The deal was such a disaster that it looked like Trump was willing to sign anything if it let him declare victory and walk away from the mess he created.

Except he didn’t get to walk away. The ceasefire collapsed. Iran continued attacking ships. The strait remained largely closed. Oil prices surged. And now Trump is threatening to bomb Oman—an ally!—while pretending a waterway thousands of miles from the United States somehow belongs to us. 

Iran is seemingly no longer afraid of U.S. bombs. Bombs can destroy things, but they can’t control territory. And if those bombs hurt the Iranian people? What do the mullahs care? They slaughter their own people indiscriminately.

Children wade in the water with cargo ships at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on June 30.AP

Worse, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed the Iranian regime exactly what authoritarian governments crave: an external enemy around which to rally their people.

A regime that had faced massive public demonstrations now appears to be firmly back in control, digging in for a long fight and betting it can wait out that doddering old fool in the White House. Whatever hopes existed that the Iranian people might finally rid themselves of their murderous regime are now vastly diminished.

And Trump? All he has left are words and stupid AI memes. Or, as they say in Texas, he’s all hat, no cattle.

Trolling doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn’t lower oil prices. It doesn’t defeat Iran. And it sure as hell doesn’t magically turn Iranian, Omani, and Emirati territory into American soil.

But here’s the funny silver lining. Just weeks ago, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, ruling that children born in the United States to undocumented or temporarily present parents are U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment. 

So Trump might want to think through this whole “U.S. territory” thing. Because if he really wants to declare those parts of Iran, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates to be American territory, he might also be volunteering to give a whole lot of Middle Eastern babies U.S. citizenship.

Is that what MAGA really wants?

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Trump and The Harpie have places to go and things to do.
 

 

‘Here I am’: Melania Trump turns up amid Natalie 'The Harpie' Harp firestorm

 

White House aide Natalie Harp disembarks Air Force One, on Aug. 9, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.  AP

 

THE HARPIE: "You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down."

 

by Emily Singer

Daily Kos Staff

 

Staff

Friday, Aug 21

First lady Melania Trump showed her face at the White House on Thursday for the first time in weeks, as chatter about her husband’s relationship with 35-year-old aide Natalie Harp has exploded into public.

“I heard you missed me,” Melania Trump said at an event in the tackily paved Rose Garden, the first time she appeared at the White House in more than a month. “Here I am.”

Cartoon by Mike LuckovichBy permission of Mike Luckovich and Creators Syndicate.

She was accompanied by President Donald Trump, who is facing questions about his bizarre interactions with Harp after Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) brought up Trump’s desire to “travel with Natalie” rather than do work to help the American people. 

Ossoff never said that the relationship between Trump and Harp was an untoward sexual one, but rather that Harp is part of a “circle of sycophantic aides” who give Trump his “daily dose of delusion and flattery.”

The only ones bringing up sexual connotations between Trump and Harp were the White House, Republican members of Congress, and the right-wing media personalities who slammed Ossoff for bringing up Harp’s name at all.

And it’s that reaction that has raised questions about the nature of Trump’s relationship with Harp. And the fact that Melania showed her face as the whispers about Trump and Harp have turned into a scream looked like an obvious attempt to show she and Trump are still a couple.

Melania’s appearance became even more notable, as she showed her face at the White House hours before the Daily Beast published letters Harp wrote to Trump. The Daily Beast got the typed out notes from author Michael Wolff, who told the news outlet that he was given the correspondence during the 2024 election by Trump campaign aides who were uncomfortable with Trump and Harp’s relationship.

In one cringeworthy letter obtained by the Daily Beast, Harp wrote:

Dear Mr. President,

I’m sorry. I thought I was the only one left behind last night, and had no idea Margo’s car was also pulled over, and sent back to the Airport. Since I was alone in the van outside Customs without my passport, I panicked, and should have just called Secret Service instead of you. I also am sorry if I was an embarrassment walking the course in Scotland. The first day I was told there were no carts, and people walked, which is why I walked. The second day, I was specifically asked by, I forget who his name was, but one of the main people who worked there, if I could continue walking, and tell any other girls who would head out there to do the same to spare the Course any more Carts. If there is anything else I have done to cause you trouble, please forgive me. I know that some people have said I haven’t been texting them back, and there have been some International cell issues (John was having technical issues on the Plane too, so asked me to help him out).

I want things to always be right between us. I also know I’ve been distracted all week (forgetting to eat throughout the days, and even forgetting to sleep, and only catching a couple hours at a time). I haven’t been myself, dwelling on the Past, and the pain of losing my Dad, and I started letting the remarks of people who haven’t bothered me before, get to me—not because I care what others think, but because I see myself being lowered in your eyes and good opinion. That is the fear you see, because I never want to bring you anything but joy. I’m sorry I lost my focus.

You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down. Thank you for being my Guardian and Protector in this Life—That’s what I wanted to use this card for, when you saw me at the Cash Register, and once again did what you didn’t have to do, and gifted me with Mementos of this Trip of a Lifetime, a Coming of Age. I will return a better person. I have to sign off now, as the cars are leaving. See you soon. 

With all my heart. 

Natalie.

Then came this next creepy letter:

Dear Mr. President,

Now this is the Note I wanted to write (But the apology needed to come first.)

I have learned so much about myself on this Trip—I always knew coming home to my roots would be enlightening, but I had no idea how much. For the first time, in I don’t know how long, you forced me to “unplug.”

We could be out on the Course, with no machines, and even forget what time it was! I didn’t have to be “Human Printer.” I could take time to enjoy good conversation, and still get all my work done at the end of the day. In fact, I even had time to take long morning and evening walks to enjoy each Sunrise and Sunset (though I did forget to eat and sleep!). With so much thinking time, I confess it did have a slightly negative effect at times, that I know you picked up on, but the end result, I believe, will be worth it.

I had no idea how rapidly I was approaching burnout, and starting to envy those whose only “job” seems to be to talk with you, and look pretty. I want that job!! So many times, I’m just trying to stay afloat with all that’s coming in for you, I look like a hunchback who didn’t have time to freshen up (at least you know what I should look like)!

Plus, I miss the days when you used to call, during my Talkshow days, and we’d talk about everything and nothing. I want to get back to that synergy. We shouldn’t have to talk about work all the time!!

I’ve always felt like an in-betweener, somewhere between Staff and those you enjoy talking to “on the Plane or at Dinner, because that’s who I used to be to you when I was a “Talkshow Host” (as much as I hated that actual job!). I wish I could hear every conversation, because that’s when you’re having a good time, getting away from it all, at least for a few moments.

But after going through all this self-analysis, my conclusion? I need to reunite my past self with my current into a better version who will make you proud. And please, when I fail, will you tell me? You have the absolute right to cuss me out, if need be, when I deserve it, because no one else knows or cares about me. Thank you for always being there for me—I’ll never forget when you made that promise to me after losing my Dad, and I know how happy he is right now that I did get to go to Scotland and Ireland, as he always wanted for me.

To modify a classic, “I could not have parted with you, to anyone less worthy”—And, I will add, it is I who is unworthy.

Always,

Natalie

The letters do not explicitly confirm a sexual affair. However, they are extremely weird and not something an average human would write to their boss—let alone the president of the United States. And they would be weird no matter what gender the sender was. Harp clearly idolizes Trump in an unhealthy way, and the fact that Trump encourages it by keeping her close at all times is equally strange.

Still there is some weird language that raises eyebrows, including that Trump gave her “Mementos of this Trip of a Lifetime,” which she also called “a Coming of Age.” And that before she worked in the White House Trump would call her to “talk about everything and nothing.” Sounds like love letters a teenager would write to her crush.

Ultimately, Melania’s appearance didn’t squash the chatter about Trump and Harp’s relationship. In fact, it only made it louder. 

 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work they go... 

Trump betrays South Korea for pen pal Kim Jong Un

 COZYING UP TO COMMIES

Which party are the communist lovers in now?    President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he planned to  retreat from America’s longtime alliance with South Korea, adding  that nation to the growing list of American allies that he has insulted  and even endangered in his second term. On his social media account Trump praised his “very good relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and said that he was ordering the U.S. military to “substantially reduce” involvement in upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea. Trump said the exercises with South Korea were “totally  inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, a nation that has been “unthreatening and respectful” while Trump has been president. The broadside against South Korea runs counter to more than 70  years of close relations between the two countries, which has  endured since the end of the Korean War. Since being sworn in on  January 2025, Trump has been involved in hostile exchanges with  countries like Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, among  others, sowing international discord after decades of strong ties. Trump’s praise of North Korea not only causes international  problems, but it undermines his rhetoric on domestic politics.  North Korea is one of the world’s most prominent communist  nations, yet Trump has been (inaccurately) decrying the  Democratic Party for purported communist influence. By giving  in to Kim, Trump gives communism more of an influence over  world affairs than it has had in decades. From Rocket Man to Trump's Bestest Lover Boy

Albanians care more about their fate than Americans do about ours

"Even pro-American Europeans want to know: Why aren't people in the streets every day?" 

By William Falk / Editor-at-Large / The Week Magazine / Aug 18 2026

(Gazette Blog Editor's note:  If you still enjoy reading an old-fashioned-hand-held magazine but don't have a lot of time, The Week magazine is excellent.  It's the only one I still subscribe to.  There is no better overview of what's going on in the world today from a variety of diverse vantage points.  This recent editorial is a must-read, and it will only take two minutes. ) 

Albanians, who endured a half-century of tyranny, are giving Americans a lesson in democracy. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians have been pouring into the streets every day for two months to express their vehement rejection of Trumpism. 

The “Flamingo Revolution” was sparked when pro-Trump Prime Minister Edi Rama and his oligarch allies gave Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and the couple’s Saudi and Qatari partners approval to develop an ultra-luxurious resort on a large public island, Sazan. The island is now a cherished nature preserve, adjacent to a river delta and lagoon teeming with wildlife (including flamingos). 

In Albania and throughout Europe, says Isaac Stanley-Becker this week in The Atlantic, people are puzzled that Americans aren’t standing up more forcefully to Trump’s grotesque corruption; his self-serving alliance with tech oligarchs and crypto crooks; his ethnic-cleansing campaign and state-sanctioned brutality and killings; his assaults on free speech, elections, science, and the rule of law; and his disastrous war in Iran.  

"Even pro-American Europeans want to know: Why aren't people in the streets every day?" says Stanley-Becker.

A good question.  Trump is not a dictator, but he clearly aspires to be one, and his flagrant abuses of power are disqualifying, or would be in any era of U.S. history except this one.  

Now he's openly laying the groundwork to reverse the will of the voters in November if they elect a Democratic majority in the House.  If the election results are close, a constitutional crisis unlike any since the Civil War could be just a few months away.

Perhaps Americans are too complacent after 250 years of fitful but unbroken democracy to believe it could be taken from us.  Perhaps we're too well-fed and too distracted by our devices, our games, and an endless tsunami of "content."  Perhaps too many of us are afraid.  Or all of the above.  

But at this fraught moment, Albanians seem to care more about their country than we do ours.

 

Robert Reich | Surviving a Madman

"He's finally lost his grasp on reality. He’s dangerously delusional. Trump is losing his mind."

Robert Reich / Substack

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich. (photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star)

17 august 26  

 

 Trump claimed this past week that his job approval ratings are “fabulous” — they’re “above 60%.”

He also asserted that the United States is enjoying “the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”

And that the U.S. has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz. “I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s braggadocio doesn’t just mask his failures. His statements wildly contradict the calamities he’s created for America and the world.

To be sure, since he first entered American politics, we’ve been shocked and outraged by his lack of morality, scruple, or shame. It’s been difficult to conceive of such a person because we’ve always been taught to distinguish right from wrong and to do the right thing. Yet Trump has no conception of right and wrong. He isn’t unethical. He’s non-ethical. He isn’t immoral. He’s amoral.

But his latest fabrications are so contrary to the realities of his monumental failures — his losing war with Iran, the near-collapsing U.S. economy, and his underwater approval ratings — that they’re not merely non-ethical or amoral. How can they be explained?

One possibility is his conman brain still firmly believes the public will go along with whatever he says and thinks he can manufacture success even when he’s going down the toilet.

But this can’t explain the extreme dissonance; he reads the same polls everyone else reads, and he knows the public isn’t buying.

Another possibility is that the sycophants surrounding him are telling him he’s wildly successful and don’t want to inform him of the depths of his failures for fear of his reaction.

Yet he constantly watches television, and even the networks he favors — such as Fox News — have lately been broadcasting his cataclysmic failures.

So what’s really going on? How can his assessments be so utterly unhinged from the enormity of his defeats?

The only possible explanation is that he’s finally lost his grasp on reality. He’s dangerously delusional. Trump is losing his mind.

It’s hard for most of us to take in the full import of this. Even those of us who detest him find it difficult to accept the seriousness of his dementia because we think of him as loathsome rather than oblivious.

We’ve spent so many years seething that no one has held him accountable for all the awful things he’s done that we’re disoriented by the possibility he’s now unaware. We don’t want to let him off the moral hook by reason of insanity. Yet what moral compass do we use to judge a president who is wildly and dangerously delusional?

This has become the wrong question. The problem is no longer Trump’s lack of ethics or his amorality. The current challenge is how to survive under a madman.

If he is no longer responsible for what he says or does, we should move beyond shock and outrage to outright fear. He could blow the world up. We must call on our elected representatives to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment as soon as possible, by reason of insanity.

 

Trump Told Ukraine It Had No Cards. Then Kyiv Took the War to Russia

 

A Ukrainian soldier guards his position. (photo: Mstyslav Chernov/AP)

 

Ukraine doubled down on production, churning out a growing array of weapons in larger numbers 

 

Emma Burrows, John Leicester and Illia Novikov / Associated Press

 

 16 August 26

The meeting in the Oval Office between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a diplomatic car crash.

“Your country is in big trouble. You’re not winning,” Trump said, dressing down Zelenskyy in front of the world’s media. “You don't have the cards.”

The blowup in February 2025, three years into the war, was more than just a heated public exchange: The Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave the White House, and Washington briefly suspended intelligence sharing with Kyiv. In the ensuing months, as Russia made slow but steady gains on the battlefield, Trump warmly welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and seemed ready to push Ukraine into an unfavorable peace deal, including forcing it to give up territory.

But even as Zelenskyy sat next to Trump, his forces were preparing an operation that would reveal Ukraine’s ability and ambition to take the war to Russia: Months later, drones smuggled into the country attacked Russian bombers, destroying or damaging planes worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since then, Kyiv has ramped up a campaign of longer-range strikes inside Russia and in areas Moscow has seized, increased production of weapons, targeted Russian air defenses, and hit oil infrastructure and the warehouses of a major retailer in a bid to ensure ordinary Russians feel the impact of the conflict.

In an embarrassment to Putin, Ukrainian drone strikes sent thick plumes of smoke billowing over St. Petersburg shortly before the opening of an international economic forum in June. Concern over Ukraine’s attacks led Russian authorities to scale down the May 9 military parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany. Strikes on oil refineries have caused a summer fuel crisis.

By the time Trump and Zelenskyy met at a NATO summit in July, the American president said the Ukrainian leader had “been very effective” in the war. “We’ve actually developed a good relationship,” Trump added.

But as Ukraine’s strikes have intensified, so have Russia’s — and Kyiv faces major challenges in defending against them because of shortages of American Patriot air defense missiles.

In the first six months of the year, 1,396 civilians were killed in Ukraine, according to the U.N. Meanwhile, the world body said Russian authorities reported 250 civilians killed in the same period. On Monday, a strike that Ukraine said hit an oil refinery in Russia killed 13 people, according to local officials.

And while Ukraine's effort appears to have shifted the narrative about the war in Washington, it's still not clear if it will be able to push Putin toward the negotiating table.

Ukraine’s strikes are aimed at undermining the idea that Russia can afford to “just let this roll,” said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the London-based RUSI think tank.

The question of whether it will succeed depends on how much pain Ukraine can exact. “Logically, above a certain threshold, it does work but whether they can reach that threshold is an interesting question” — and one that depends at least partly on factors outside Kyiv's control, like continued European financial support, he noted.

Ukraine brings the war to Russia

While most of Ukraine's strikes have a range of less than 200 kilometers (125 miles), its longer-range attacks have increased dramatically this year. It launched three times as many of those strikes in July as it did in January, according to data from ACLED, an independent conflict monitor. Repeatedly hitting deep into Russia has forced its military to stretch air defenses over a larger area.

Many of its strikes have focused on four key categories of targets, according to an Associated Press analysis of hundreds of Ukrainian attacks this year — compiled from statements by Russian officials and state media and the Ukrainian military.

As the Iran war pushed up energy prices, leading the U.S. to ease sanctions on Russian oil, Kyiv ramped up strikes on oil infrastructure to deny the Kremlin revenue from fuel exports and force shortages on ordinary Russians.

It is also striking defense manufacturing to damage Russia’s long-term ability to produce weapons, targeting air defenses to clear a path for its own arms, and hitting retail warehouses to bring the effects to ordinary Russians.

Maj. Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, the commander leading Ukraine’s drone war, told the AP its strikes in Crimea are also aimed at rendering the peninsula unusable as a staging ground for Russian forces.

Starlink gives Ukraine an advantage — for now

It’s not always clear if Ukraine’s attacks are effective — and some may have resulted in minimal or no damage. In May and June, Ukraine said it hit several satellite, reconnaissance or signals intelligence facilities in Russia, but satellite images analyzed by AP did not show major damage.

Still, Ukraine has one advantage that can help it strip back Russian air defenses and make its drone strikes more precise.

It has access to Elon Musk’s satellite communications service Starlink — which means its operators can control drones in real time in Russian-held Ukrainian territory. Russia has been blocked from using Starlink.

But Russia is also building its own version of Starlink, and is installing jamming systems that hamper Starlink connectivity, Brovdi said.

Ukraine is investing heavily in weapons production

Even before the Oval Office meeting, Ukraine had scrambled to invest in new weapons — but that moment was “a real wake-up call," said a European military official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the front-line situation in detail. It became clear that U.S. support could be stopped “from one day to the next.”

Ukraine doubled down on production, churning out a growing array of weapons in larger numbers and shortening traditional research and production cycles from decades to years or even months.

Even so, Ukraine is still not able to produce as many missiles as it needs. It also took Ukraine time to make systems that could target facilities precisely enough that Kyiv felt comfortable using them to strike deep into Russia, Watling said.

And while Ukraine has begun to resolve navigational issues with its missiles, such as the Flamingo, those weapons are still not as accurate — or as stealthy — as their Western analogues. That often means hundreds of drones must be fired to overwhelm Russian air defenses to allow a missile to get through.

It's an expensive and time-consuming way to wage war since only 5% to 9% of what Ukraine fires gets past Russian air defenses, according to Watling.

But, although Russia's weapons are more powerful, Zelenskyy suggested at the NATO summit that Putin is “losing the initiative” in the war as Ukraine has moved the fight from the stalled battlefield to the sky.

Sitting next to Trump at the summit, the Ukrainian leader even cracked a joke, demurring when Trump asked him if he would accept Moscow as a venue for peace talks, as Putin has suggested.

“There are a lot of Ukrainian drones in the air," Zelenskyy said. "It would be dangerous.”