The man at the center of Trump's controversial policy towards Ukraine is the Atlantic Ocean. CIA Director John Ratcliffe heads an agency at war with Russia while Trump maintains friendly relations with Putin. Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky have never maintained warm, or even stable, relations. But last week the situation reached a new low. Relations between the two leaders may have reached a personal low, but the American intelligence community remains committed to protecting Ukraine from Russian aggression. Armed with information provided by the United States, the Ukrainian military launches attacks deep into Russian territory. And American spy satellites provide early warning of incoming missiles and UAVs. Among U.S. military personnel on the ground, the CIA "leads the way," says a retired officer who travels frequently to Ukraine. If there's any problem, it's that the Ukrainians, with the help of the CIA, have gotten so good at hurting Russia that Trump doesn't like it. Administration policy is highly controversial, and perhaps no one understands this better than CIA Director John Ratcliffe. He is between two worlds: on the one hand, he advises the president, who is constantly in conflict with Ukraine's leadership, and on the other hand, he runs an agency that plays a central role in Ukraine's struggle for survival. One intelligence official in the Baltic states, who works closely with the Americans to combat Russian influence, told me that while Trump's rhetoric will never count, the CIA's operations now are "much more aggressive" than they were during the Biden administration.