Why should we be surprised that Donald Trump and his MAGA followers have surrendered to Russian President Vladimir Putin and are willing to hand over to him parts of Ukraine? After all, Trump doesn’t respect the outcome of American elections, why would we expect him to respect the solvency of a nation’s boundaries?
Multiple sources have stated that if Trump wins the White House he will cut off assistance to Ukraine and force it to surrender parts of the nation to Russia.
This, of course, will reinforce Putin’s aggression against a solvent state and encourage him to invade other nations on his border or beyond. None of this should be a surprise. Trump has made it clear he does not support our European or NATO allies. Rather, he admires Putin and Putin’s dictatorship of Russia. If he plays his cards right, Trump might even get that Trump Tower in Moscow he has been wishing for.
Trump has said several times on the campaign trail he could “end the war in 24 hours.” Of course, anyone could end any war in 24 hours by surrendering. Giving Putin what he wants is something one might expect from Trump given his lack of values or respect for the rule of law.
Indeed, standing up for democracy in Ukraine has been difficult and costly, especially for the people of Ukraine. But their suffering will not end if Trump hands them over to Putin. Most of all, they will lose their freedom, something Republicans once valued. Former President Ronald Reagan has to be rolling over in his grave.
Taking land from Ukraine now will not satisfy Putin any more than after he invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, says Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center. She called Trump’s proposal “a terrible deal” because Putin will eventually re-arm and resume hostilities as he has in the past, Ashford said.
To learn the lessons of history, however, one must know history. That might be asking too much from Trump.
Michael Kofman with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace expressed the danger in the type of concessions Trump is willing to make to Putin. He said, “This is a situation where if you’re willing to give a hand, the other side will very quickly want the rest of the arm.”
Dan Coats, writing for The New York Times, said “The potential consequences of failing to help Ukraine resist Russia’s raw territorial aggression are not limited to Europe. China is watching closely to see how firmly America supports or doesn’t support, its friends these days. …Those who do not see the link between European security and our own are not living in the real world.”
Trump’s surrender to Putin has already been happening through his MAGA puppets in Congress. For the past six months, House Speaker Mike Johnson, under the orders of Trump, has refused to hold a vote for Ukraine funding, even though a majority of House members support the bill, which has already passed in the Senate.
Not all Republicans are keen on the idea of surrendering parts of Ukraine to Putin. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says that he has communicated to Trump that Putin “has to pay a price” for his aggression and that Putin “can’t win at the end of this.”
Other more traditional Republicans are calling out their colleagues for supporting Putin. This includes former Vice President Mike Pence, as well as Sens Mitt Romney of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas.
In the House, Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reported that “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States” and “it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”
When Ohio Republican Rep. Michael Turner, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, was asked during a CNN interview about McCaul’s statement, he said that it was “absolutely true.” He went on to say that some of his Republican colleagues in the House were sadly repeating Russian propaganda about Ukraine “on the House floor.”
Writing for The Bulwark, conservative commentator Mona Charen agrees. “Putin seems to have pulled off the most successful foreign influence operation in American history … Putin now wields more power over the Republicans than anyone other than Trump. They mouth Russian disinformation without shame. Putin must be pinching himself.”
Unfortunately, many traditional Republicans who want to stand up to Putin are retiring or just leaving Congress in frustration. And with Trump’s daughter-in-law now heading the Republican Party, new Republicans entering Congress have to be election deniers to be nominated or receive Republican Party support.
In fact, several media outlets have reported that asking who won the 2020 presidential election — if you say “Biden” you will not be hired — is one of the interview questions for those seeking jobs with the National Republican Committee, now fully controlled by Trump supporters. Trump is changing the GOP for the long term.
Putin, of course, is working hard to help Trump get elected in November. Even while out of office, however, Trump has been able to influence congressional decisions regarding America’s national security interests. Given his approval numbers within the Republican Party, it appears a majority of Republicans are fine with that.
Tom Zirpoli is the Laurence J. Adams Distinguished Chair Emeritus at McDaniel College. He writes from Westminster. His column appears on Wednesdays. Email him at tzirpoli@mcdaniel.edu.
