The competition for the Republican presidential nomination has become a race to the exits when it comes to the most dangerous armed conflict on the planet. Both Donald Trump and his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are rushing (or should we say Russian?) to abandon Ukraine to the predations of Vladimir Putin. Apparently, a little over a year is too long for America to stand firm against a brutal and illegal invasion.
In a statement to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson (naturally), DeSantis listed U.S. national interests including “checking the economic, cultural and military power of the Chinese Communist Party,” then went on to say that “becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” was not among them.
The utterly unprovoked Russian assault is no mere “dispute.” It is an abomination and human rights catastrophe that threatens to undermine the world order, to the extent there is one. Moreover, it takes a curiously blinkered view for a would-be commander-in-chief to count it as a core national security priority to beat back the influence of China’s Politburo while going wobbly so soon on an actual hot war. Indeed, if the U.S., as leader of the West, effectively throws Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his countrymen to the bear, it’ll deliver the clearest permission slip imaginable to Beijing that it can run roughshod over its sovereign neighbor, Taiwan. You can’t spell “irony” without Ron.
As for Trump, it’s wholly unsurprising that the man who as president repeatedly fawned over Putin just told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he might have let Russia “take over” parts of Ukraine to avert a war. (”Peace for our time,” anyone?) His “America First” ideology really means letting the planet’s tyrants work their will.
Let’s be clear. The United States ought never waltz into a war, much less a war against a major power; that disrespects the sacrifice of our troops and the pocketbooks of our taxpayers. But finding effective ways to oppose tyranny when it rears its head is the price of global leadership.