“This is really scary,” writes a conservative friend of mine. “Putin is the new Hitler. It appears Trump is the new Neville Chamberlain. I’m guessing Trump is not a big fan of studying history, since he’s probably doomed to repeat it.”
My friend is neither Never Trump nor certainly Always Trump. We both marvel at Donald Trump’s ability to shoot himself in the foot. Many conservatives have been thrilled with what Trump has done domestically in his whirlwind initial weeks in office. And then, presto, the man uncorks and says wildly stupid things about Ukraine. With his comments about Volodymyr Zelenskyy, we see yet again how Trump can be his own worst enemy.
And what of my friend’s assessment of Trump as a new Neville Chamberlain with his comments about Zelenskyy being a dictator?
When pressed to defend this accusation, Always Trumpers note that Zelenskyy hasn’t stood for election since his country was invaded by Putin three years ago. That’s correct. However, Ukraine’s laws and constitution (and majority public opinion) permits the leader to not stand for reelection during a time of war and martial law — a reasonable provision. The British people had the same policy during World War II. Winston Churchill never stood for election until late July 1945, after the Nazis surrendered.
The heroic Churchill saved the West. Brits turned to him during their darkest hour when the Nazi beast that Chamberlain appeased was at the gates.
As for Donald Trump, it’s hard to picture him as Neville Chamberlain. Consider:
Trump understands that he’s probably the only international leader who can negotiate between Zelenskyy and Putin.
The mediator position has fallen to Trump, for better or worse.
As for his words about Zelenskyy, by now we should have learned not to take Trump’s words too literally. His actions mean more. Yes, his latest words about Ukraine were idiotic, outrageous. They’ve stunned even some of his most sycophantic supporters.
Fox’s Brian Kilmeade responded by trying to get Trump in an interview to call Putin a dictator. He wouldn’t do it. The conservative New York Post called out Trump for that, running a picture of Putin under the headline, “THIS is a dictator.”
That said, Trump is no doubt taking some shots at Zelenskyy for negotiating reasons, probably to show the Russians that he can be an even broker holding both sides to the fire. No, that’s not to imply that Trump is crazy like a fox. He bloviates reckless statements all the time. Again, however, we’ve learned not to take his words too seriously. It’s the actions that count. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he negotiated a ceasefire. I’d bet he does better than President Biden did.
Thus far already in his second term, Trump can take pride in getting (Butler’s own) Marc Fogel released by Putin. Moreover, always be mindful that in Trump’s first term, Putin kept his hands off Ukraine. Vlad the impaler had invaded Crimea in 2014, during the Obama presidency. He didn’t march toward Kyiv until February 2022, under Joe Biden.
In the meantime, however, it’s painful to hear embarrassing statements like those from Trump calling Zelenskyy rather than Putin a dictator.
So, what will happen with Trump and Ukraine and Russia? I just don’t know. Here’s hoping and praying Trump’s actions will be far better than his words, and that history will prove him a broker of peace rather than the next Neville Chamberlain.