The Trump administration is sending mixed messages to America’s enemies — appeasing Russian aggression in Europe, while working to deter China in the Indo-Pacific.
Trump showed his personal hostility toward Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in his first term when he withheld much-needed weapons systems unless Zelensky provided damaging information on the Biden family. Then, during his 2024 campaign, he promised to end Russia’s war there quickly, which could only be done by putting pressure on Ukraine, almost totally dependent on the U.S. for weapons, intelligence and moral and diplomatic support. Since his reelection, Trump has been doing precisely that, as was painfully demonstrated by his and JD Vance’s entrapment and berating of Zelensky in their infamous Oval Office meeting.
The clearly premeditated ambush of the Ukrainian president was the most shameful public display of American bullying of an ally the world has ever seen. Even Hitler allowed Chamberlain a more dignified humiliation — but then Chamberlain, unlike Zelensky, was already prepared to capitulate.
Trump’s adulation of Vladimir Putin, one of many strongmen he admires and seeks to emulate, and his siding with Russia’s position against Ukraine, was recently echoed by Trump’s chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff, during a visit to Moscow. He asserted that the Ukrainian people subjected to Russian domination in conquered parts of Ukraine “want to be under Russian rule.” “The question is," he said, "will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories?”
In contrast, the Trump administration is sending a message of resolve to China regarding America’s security commitments in the Indo-Pacific. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, where he declared the U.S. commitment to its security is “ironclad.” Hegseth called China “aggressive and coercive”and pledged that the U.S. will ensure “robust, ready and credible deterrence” across the Taiwan Strait.
Former President Biden repeatedly used the “ironclad terminology with Ukraine and NATO, despite the fact that his oft-expressed fear of World War III greatly inhibited his willingness to provide Ukraine with the military support it needed to defeat Russia’s aggression. The ...
