This Is Wrong

History is filled with examples of people convincing themselves of things to avoid dealing with the implications of a situation.

If slaves were not really people, we did not have to deal with the moral implications of slavery.

If a fetus is not really a human, we do not have to deal with the moral implications of abortion.

If everybody does it, we do not have to deal with the moral implications of doing whatever it is.

If Ukraine was the aggressor in its war, we do not have to deal with the moral implications of the Leader of the Free World not standing on the side of Ukraine’s freedom.

This is not an argument about continuing to fund Ukraine. A lot of people are trying to dance past President Trump’s recent statements on Ukraine to pivot towards no longer funding Ukraine.

I am not making an argument to keep funding Ukraine or to stop funding Ukraine. In fact, over the past few weeks it is pretty clear that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, perhaps still advised by a global elite who thought he should be used as a Democratic Party prop in Pennsylvania, has played his hand badly against Donald Trump.

Regardless, it is wrong for the Leader of the Free World to stake out a very public position against Ukraine, claiming Ukraine started the war and that its president is a dictator who refused to have elections and otherwise denigrates its president in contrast to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

It may not matter to you, but the world does watch the United States. And it is not good when the President of the United States, who is the Leader of the Free World, will not call Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator but will call the legitimately elected President of Ukraine a dictator. It is not good when the President of the United States publicly lies about the origins of the war.

It is not good when the United States suddenly begins objecting to classifying the Russians as the aggressors in public statements.

Ukraine has not had an election since the war started because, unlike the United States, many European parliamentary democracies, including the United Kingdom, have long had a tradition of multi-party wartime coalitions that continue until war on the domestic front is over. It is not only within the Ukrainian constitution that the election should be suspended during wartime, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief rivals for power and his biggest critics have defended not having an election at a time when most Ukrainians are fighting for their lives.

Russia invaded Ukraine. Claiming that Lincoln had elections, so Ukraine should ignore its constitution and operate like the United States in the Civil War is a profoundly unserious talking point for a deeply unserious people. Jefferson Davis could not launch cruise missiles at Chicago on Election Day. Putin can do that to Kyiv.

Contrary to the mythologies of those who support Russia, Ukrainian entry to NATO was not the reason for the invasion. Though Putin has publicly claimed that for American audiences, Putin has also repeatedly claimed it was about the reassertion of a Russian sphere of influence and Russia’s natural claim to Ukraine and territories of the Slavic peoples. Putin has long asserted a right to resurrect an Iron Curtain across Eastern Europe.

People close to President Trump tell me often that, privately, Donald Trump is on Ukraine’s side and understands we cannot allow Russian expansionist desires to be fed. But, they claim, President Trump is making these public statements to both force Ukraine to come to terms with the fact that it must give up territory to settle this war and to lure Russia into negotiations, thinking the American position will be more favorable to Russia than it is.

Perhaps that is Trump’s thinking and strategy. It does seem clear that Ukraine’s leader has done a great job in the past few weeks alienating Trump and Trump very much wants to bring the war to an end. But it is also not a good thing for the Trump Team to object to phrases like “Russian aggression” in G7 statements.¹

However, the United States still leads the free world even as some in Trump’s orbit wish only to be the leader of the Western Hemisphere if even that. The world listens to the American President. To have him so publicly and falsely attack Ukraine and its leader when that country was unjustly attacked is to undermine the American moral claim of leadership in a free world. It undermines people’s trust in the United States as a good nation.

Again, this is not how to wrap up the war or whether to keep funding the war. It is about the publicly false statements by the President of the United States about Ukraine and its leader.

When President Biden abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban in the way he did, American public sentiment turned on Biden. Though no American went to the grocery store, saw high prices, and mumbled “Afghanistan,” it was the withdrawal of Afghanistan and the abandonment of so many that led Americans to believe Biden lacked empathy. So when Americans then saw high grocery prices, they were reminded Biden did not care and lacked empathy. The withdrawal from Afghanistan planted a seed in the minds of Americans that Republicans were right that Biden only feigned caring. That seed sprouted in inflation.

If Donald Trump sides with Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, he will be siding with a man viewed favorably by only about ten percent of Americans. More Americans believe the moon landing was fake than believe Putin is someone we can do business with. Americans understand the Russians and Chinese are not our friends. For Trump to side with one of our enemies against a free people will begin, like with Biden, the reinforcement to Americans that the President of the United States does not care about freedom and free people. It will plant a seed in the public’s mind that the left was right about Trump — he really is a wannabe dictator who cares about his power, not the people.

Americans view the United States as an exceptional nation—a nation people are willing to die to reach. Americans view the United States as the last best hope for man and the Leader of the Free World. If Americans begin to believe their leaders do not view America in the same way, they will not change their views on the United States; they will change their views on their leaders.

We can have a debate about how to end the war in Ukraine. We can have a debate on funding the Ukrainians. We can note that Volodymyr Zelenskyy got horrible advice from the global elite on navigating American politics and his public appeal. We can agree it was unwise of Zelenskyy to participate in what came off as a Democrat event for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania. We should be able to agree that Democrats helped turn supporting Ukraine into a partisan issue in ways they should not have, and Joe Biden’s public pledges of support were not carried out to the extent most people believe.

We can agree on a lot and debate a lot.

But it should behoove all of us, especially the man who wanted to be the Leader of the Free World, to recognize Ukraine is a free country that Russia invaded and Vladimir Putin is the bad guy in this fight. President Trump’s public statements matter beyond a negotiating position.

Some will wish to tell themselves stories to avoid that or change the subject. We should not, however, revise history to abdicate our leadership of the free world. And we begin that abdication by abandoning the truth.

1. This matters beyond rhetoric. According to basic international law principles, if we recast Ukraine as the aggressor, it legitimizes Russian territorial claims. Putin wants Ukraine labeled as the aggressor and warmonger because then Putin has a claim under international law that his seizure of territory from Ukraine is not just lawful, but can escape sanction.