Imagine that at the end of 1941, when Nazi Germany had occupied a significant part of the Soviet Union’s territory—Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and so on—Donald Trump suddenly became the President of the United States. And then he declares that this bloody war must be stopped. Millions of people are dying—that’s not good. He proposes that Hitler and Stalin sign a peace agreement.
Stalin expresses his willingness to negotiate, but he makes it a mandatory condition that Germany return the captured territories. To this, Donald Trump responds that Stalin is an inflexible negotiator, that he holds no cards in his hand, and that he must accept the loss of part of his territory.
How does that sound to you?
Madness, you might say.
But these are precisely the conditions Donald Trump is now trying to push regarding Ukraine. He accuses President Zelensky of being unwilling to negotiate and of rejecting a peaceful resolution to the conflict, even as a large part of Ukraine remains occupied by an aggressor.
By doing so, Trump is effectively justifying the aggressor and excusing the seizure of foreign territory. Instead of joining Europe in stopping Putin and punishing him for this predatory war, he is suggesting that part of another country’s land be handed over to him. If this happens, I see no reason why medieval-style wars of conquest and the annexation of weaker neighbors by stronger states wouldn’t begin all over the world.
Or maybe that’s exactly what Trump wants?
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