President Donald Trump just issued a new challenge to congressional Republicans who have steadfastly stood behind Ukraine in their battle to evict Putin’s invaders. They can tell Americans the truth. Or, like they’ve been doing for almost a decade, they can bury their heads in the sand.
“I think I have the power to end the war,” Trump told reporters who were questioning him about the start of negotiations with Russia. Then, addressing complaints by Ukrainians that their government was left out the talks, he said President Volodymyr Zelensky had “been there for three years;” “should have ended it;” and “should have never started it.”
He even argued Russia wants “stop the savage barbarianism.”
The undisputed facts are Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine three years ago. And it’s the Russian barbarians who could have ended the war a long time ago by pulling their troops out of all the Ukrainian territory they seized during the war.
Sen. Dan Sullivan knows that. When Russian tanks began rolling across Ukraine’s countryside, he said it was Putin’s historical grievances and paranoia that drove him to use military force to crush Ukraine’s citizens.
Trump disagreed. During a radio interview the next day, he referred to Putin as a savvy genius and implied the invasion was a peacekeeping mission.
He quickly realized those remarks were stupid. “The Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling,” he said four days later. Then he tried to make the story about him and his Big Lie. “As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president.”
For two years, Sullivan never wavered about America’s need to support Ukraine. It included the economic sanctions President Joe Biden imposed on Russia in an effort to isolate them.
On Meet the Press in February 2023, Sullivan said “it’s strongly in our interest to continue to support the Ukrainians to restore their territorial integrity and their sovereignty without committing U.S. forces.” He criticized Biden for being too slow in getting critical weaponry to them. “We need to get them what they need now…They’ve proven their ability to fight bravely, and I think we need to do a much better job.”
But last April he admitted he couldn’t guarantee Trump would support Ukraine if he won the election. That’s because long ago he had reverted to arguing we shouldn’t be providing them with any aid.
“If I were president…I will end that war in one day,” he said during an interview in May 2023. He stuck by that message throughout the campaign.
A year later, he tried to convince the Republican leadership in the House to scuttle a Ukraine aid bill passed by the Senate.
So it should have surprised no one when Secretary of State Mark Rubio came away from the first meeting with Russian officials arguing that ending the war could create “incredible opportunities” to “partner with the Russians” on geopolitical and economic issues.
Left unsaid was Trump won’t insist that the Russians pay reparations for the death and destruction they inflicted on Ukraine. But he made that clear when he lied to the country about who started the war. And called Zelensky a dictator who fooled Biden and Congress into giving Ukraine $350 billion “to go into a war that couldn’t be won.”
The Kremlin must be thrilled by how easy it was to get an American president to swallow their propaganda.
There’s another reason Trump thinks no one will care if helps Putin escape accountability for invading Ukraine. Voters were able to put him back in the White House because four years earlier Senate Republicans let him get away with inciting a violent insurrection against our own government.
It’s possible that the imperative of supporting Ukraine’s right to self-determination will help Republicans like Sullivan finally realize that defending democracy around the world begins by standing up to the lying tyrant who took over their party.
But it’s more likely they’ll reframe Trump’s appeasement as evidence of his negotiating brilliance. Blame Biden for not doing enough. And then start trying to convince Americans that trusting Putin will help make our country great again.
• Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector. Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.
