America is Aligning With the Wrong Side

President Trump's shivving of Ukraine, and its growing acceptance among the electorate, is dangerous for America and the free world.

On the heels of last week’s chaotic Oval Office meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Trump administration, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked, "The new U.S. Administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision."

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening.

So far, this diplomatic effort by the administration to supposedly bring a peaceful end to Russia’s three-year invasion and occupation of Ukraine has not only produced incredible deference and unnecessary concessions to Russia, but public disdain, slander, and mockery for the country Russia has victimized (a U.S. ally we had long vowed to help protect).

The foreign-policy realignment we’re seeing at the top tiers of our federal government has additionally been playing out among the electorate — specifically the Republican electorate — for some time. But last week’s Oval Office debacle seemed to be a defining moment for everyday Trump supporters.

I was heartened when I read this comment (on the Zelenskyy meeting) from one of this website’s subscribers, Roger:

My heart sank as I watched the event unfold. I'm certainly a Trump supporter but I cannot honestly defend what transpired. This appears to have been a well planned ambush on Zelenskyy. Nothing has been said by the Trump administration regarding any compromises or assurances by Putin. I bet there are none. So, all of the pressure by Trump is focused on Zelenskyy because Trump and Vance know they can exert their force on him and get away with it where Putin would tell them to take a hike. Yes, we've been generous to Ukraine, and that can be debated by cooler heads but that doesn't mean we should abandon decency when dealing with an Allie. The name calling (Zelenskyy is a dictator) and falsehoods (Ukraine started the war) by Trump prior to the meeting must have certainly cut Zelenskyy to the core. I can't image the stress he has endured being at war and watching his people die and cities get destroyed by a vicious aggressor. I'm not saying he's done everything right, but no one does. I think the awful spectacle that unfolded damaged Trumps claims as the ultimate negotiator and his ego got bruised. I can only imagine what kind of talk and posturing comes next.

I had hoped more of my fellow righties would share this clear-eyed view of what went down, but I’ve seen little evidence of that… at least anecdotally. Instead, I’ve watched even good, decent friends of mine respond on social-media by advancing what amounts to Russian propaganda and bogus NATO narratives — themes that were largely recognized as such, even on the political right (despite Tucker Carlson's best efforts), three years ago when the invasion began.

To be clear, I’m not just talking about the usual suspects — the MAGA hardcores who erupt into orgasmic delight whenever Zelenskyy is berated on a cable-news show or podcast.

Incidentally, Roger touched on that crowd:

In the case of this event in the White House, there was actual gleeful celebrating at Fox of the "smackdown" on Zelenskyy. Agree or disagree with Zelenskyy and what has transpired in the previous administration, I thought I could count on us conservatives to be the intelligent adults in the room. Perhaps those days are gone.

No, I’m also talking about those who are simply inclined, often through partisan or tribal instincts (and a strong dose of wishful thinking), to discount legitimate criticism of Donald Trump, and cling to alternative narratives that comfortably portray him as a brilliant, three-steps-ahead strategist with America’s best interests at heart.

Just how powerful those instincts are were made clear by Trump’s political rehabilitation following his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and his provocation of the January 6 insurrection. With millions of Americans deciding that such unpatriotic, undemocratic, and possibly illegal acts are ultimately acceptable (perhaps even justifiable) for high office, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that the same would hold true for America positioning itself, on international issues, alongside the Axis of Evil.

Nonetheless, the capitulation to Russia’s wants and desires is a shock to the soul.

I can understand average Americans not fully appreciating the stakes in this conflict, and what they mean for the United States and the rest of the world. Our system of representative and divided government is supposed to facilitate us not having to.

But this is an extraordinarily consequential issue, one that all Americans should view through a much broader lens than their personal feelings for Donald Trump and his supporters and detractors. It requires moral and intellectual sobriety.

It seems silly to have to repeat the obvious, but at times its a worthwhile exercise:

This war on the European continent was not started by Ukraine, America, or the NATO alliance. It was started by Vladmir Putin.

This war does not continue because Zelenskyy is too stubborn or disinterested in peace to stop it. It continues because the genocidal invasion of Ukraine will not end with demonstrably empty assurances from the dictator who ordered it — a war-criminal responsible for mass murder, rape, and the kidnapping of an estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children. If Putin were an honorer of his own agreements, the invasion would have never began. And based on his history and plainly stated aspirations, Russian aggression will not end with Ukraine.

We hear a lot about how Ukraine can’t win this war. I’d say it’s become conventional wisdom, but it’s really been conventional wisdom since the day the invasion began. The widespread belief, as many may remember, was that the country would fall within weeks — perhaps even days. Three years later, Ukraine still holds its capital, four of its five largest cities, and over 80% of its territory… all without a single foreign soldier fighting on their behalf. Russia, in the meantime, has lost four to five times more soldiers than Ukraine, has had to import troops, and has been going broke.

That’s not to say that peace negotiations shouldn’t be a priority. They absolutely should. War his hell, a Putin defeat is not imminent, and if agreeable conditions can be met, they shouldn’t be left on the table. But the terms of any agreement should be decided on by Ukraine. It’s their country. It’s their people who’ve been murdered, tortured, and abducted. They were the ones invaded.

The best thing the United States can do is support Ukraine until Putin, not the Ukrainians, makes meaningful concessions. But that’s not what’s happening. The United States is treating Russia as a good-faith partner who is interested in peace and holds all the cards, while treating Ukrainians as if they’re dishonest, uncompassionate ingrates who don’t even deserve a “big boy” seat at the negotiating table. And the most coherent explanation for it is President Trump’s personal affection for Vladmir Putin.

This is to our national disgrace and the detriment of much of the free world.