Vladimir Putin held the smallest Victory Day parade in nearly two decades. Hours later, he told reporters the war in Ukraine is coming to an end. The same week, Donald Trump pulled five thousand American troops out of Germany — and said Italy and Spain are probably next.

Putin's Exit and the End of Europe's Free Ride | Everyone Knows Ep. 14

Everyone Knows | Episode 14 | Starborne Studios

Two regimes running on fumes. Two leaders out of options. Brian Bullock breaks down what's actually happening — no cable news theatrics, no party spin, no hedging. Just a straight read on what the people in power are doing and what it means for you.

Two parts. Both of them matter.

FIRST — Putin's exit problem. The Russian Victory Day parade had no tanks, no missiles, no rolling military hardware — just video screens. The man who has ruled Russia since 1999 has now been at war in Ukraine longer than the Soviet Union fought Nazi Germany. The ruble has cracked. Recruitment bonuses are over thirty thousand dollars. The mercenaries are gone. The North Koreans got chewed up. And Putin's preferred negotiating partner is a former German chancellor on the Russian state-energy payroll. Six hours after telling his troops "victory will be ours," he told reporters the matter is coming to an end. That's not the language of a winner. That's the language of a man trying to write his way out of a war he cannot finish.

SECOND — The day America stopped holding the hand. On May 1st, the Pentagon announced five thousand US troops are leaving Germany. The next day Trump told reporters Italy and Spain are probably next. The 2026 NDAA wrote a floor of seventy-five thousand US troops in Europe. We're already below it — and the president is going lower anyway. For eighty years America paid the bill for European defense. Spain spends 1.28 percent of GDP on its own military. Italy, 1.49. The NATO target is 2 percent. Trump is demanding 5. Italy refused to let US bombers use Sigonella during the Iran war. Spain's prime minister has spent more time attacking Trump than funding his own armed forces. Now Italy is on the phone begging Washington to keep the bases. The eighty-year arrangement is ending — not by treaty, not by vote, but because America is walking out and Europe is not stopping it.

Two leaders. Two regimes. Both made the same bet — that the next decade would look like the last decade, that America would keep paying, that the pressure would not come. Both of them are finding out they made the bet at the wrong table.

If you're tired of the spin, you're in the right place.

ABOUT EVERYONE KNOWSEveryone Knows is an independent podcast hosted by Brian Bullock — author, storyteller, and founder of Starborne Studios. Every episode breaks down the stories that matter using one simple framework — who benefits, who gets hurt, why now, and what happens next. No cable news theatrics. No party line. Just a straight read on what's actually going on and what it means for regular people. New episodes every week.

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