German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently offered an unusually glowing praise of President Biden's leadership. “Joe Biden is very clear, he knows exactly what he's doing and I think he is one of the most experienced statesmen in the world, especially when it comes to international politics,” Scholz said after the G7 meeting that finalized a $50 billion loan to Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets. He added that Biden “has pursued policies that have led to the proper economic development of the country and has helped to ensure that peace and security are well managed and that the United States is playing a real role in the world.”
Such praise from a key ally contrasts with the Republican Party's cynical rhetoric. Moreover, it reflects the degree to which Biden has repaired U.S. alliances that frayed under his predecessor and forged a united front to support democracy and European security. The New York Times acknowledged that the G7 “was another example of unparalleled U.S. leadership vis-à-vis the West, especially on the contentious issues of war and peace.”
Scholz's comments offered a glimpse into the anxiety among European leaders over the possibility of criminal former president Donald Trump returning to power – an avowed isolationist, Vladimir Putin's cheerleader, and foreign policy ignorant in general. “A Trump victory in 2024 would undoubtedly end U.S. aid to Ukraine,” retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman told The New Republic's David Rothkopf. Vindman argued that without U.S. support, Ukraine would likely be forced to negotiate surrendering territory, a crucial victory for Putin. At that point, the EU membership status of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine would become a dead letter, and the Baltic states would fear for their own territorial integrity.
Biden understands the panic among allies well. During his visit to Normandy, he made it clear that NATO must resist aggression out of loyalty to those who gave their lives to liberate Europe 80 years ago. “It's not new for modern U.S. presidents to visit Europe and invoke our shared history of triumphing over tyranny,” CNN reported. “But never before has a commander in chief done so after his predecessor tried to destroy democracy to stay in power.” During and after the visit, the fear was palpable that “the chaos Trump wreaked on our European allies would happen again.”
Follow this authorJennifer Rubin's opinion
Given the danger Trump poses to the West, it is all the more infuriating to see hawkish Republicans kowtowing to him. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took a “victory march” (with his Senate allies lining up to give the New York Times a shoutout) after the Ukraine aid bill was belatedly passed. McConnell told the Times, “Clearly this was a Republican issue. … For a while now I've felt like I'm the only Reaganite Republican left.” His hypocrisy in embracing Trump despite his public concerns about Ukraine is astounding.
What does he think will happen if Trump, whom he currently supports, is reelected? The “Republican problem” exists because Republicans dutifully support Putin's poodle, whose return would terrify our Democratic allies. Rather than standing up to Trump as Liz Cheney and others did, McConnell and some Republican hawks will support a candidate who will surely sign Ukraine's death warrant while taking all the credit for saving it.
Moreover, the woes that a second Trump term could befall Europe would not be limited to Europe. “A Trump administration would challenge European policymakers on a range of issues, from China to trade, and from climate to the Middle East,” warned three authors from the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Worse yet, behind the potential foreign policy shock lurks another nightmare: an international coalition that could emerge as a framework for European populists to build a special relationship with Trump's Washington,” they added. “Trump's reelection could embolden the European populist right, leading them to exert even greater sabotage on EU common policies and initiatives.”
Weakness of the Western allies on Ukraine will almost certainly be interpreted as a green light for China to expand its influence in the Far East and Africa, and for Russia to double down on its presence in the Middle East by strengthening its support for Iran and Syria. Republicans who advocate for Israel should understand that an alliance between Putin and Trump emboldens Israel's enemies and Iranian state-sponsored terrorist groups.
It is no wonder that Russian media propaganda is so similar to that coming out of Trump and his MAGA media followers. Russia and the Trump camp have a common goal: to prevent Biden's reelection. The last thing the Russians want is another four years of Biden maintaining unity in Europe, resisting Russian aggression, and asserting US economic and diplomatic superiority. If the Kremlin had engineered him in a Moscow laboratory, it would have been hard to come up with a more convenient scapegoat than Trump.
American voters should have been forewarned: They cannot support both American “exceptionalism” and Trump; they cannot celebrate our superpower status and back a candidate who would undermine it.
