The reason there has been such rapid progress on the diplomatic chessboard just three weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term in office is because Trump himself is the driving force behind it, KT McFarland told Newsmax on Wednesday.

Trump earlier Wednesday said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin about starting negotiations “immediately” to end the war in Ukraine. He also has talked with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has focused on restoring peace to the Middle East and has worked to free Americans detained in Venezuela, Belarus and Russia.

“President Trump is driving all of this,” McFarland, deputy national security adviser in Trump’s first administration, told “Newsline.” “This is not somebody, a staff person who’s giving him talking points or a cabinet officer who’s doing it. This is Donald Trump driving the deals, whether it’s going to be deals in the Middle East, whether it’s going to be dealing in Ukraine, whether it’s ultimately going to be deals with China. All over the world, it’s President Trump himself [who] is the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chief negotiator, et cetera.

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