President Trump greeted Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday and when a reporter shouted: “What is your message to the people of Ukraine?” President Trump answered, “We love them.” And the rest of the day went about like that for Ukraine and the NATO Alliance. This was a wildly different interaction than the one a few months ago in the Oval Office when Vice President Vance snapped at President Zelenskyy, telling him to be more grateful for American support. This time, President Trump commanded the events and set a positive and overtly warm and constructive tone for the meetings over Ukraine’s security and future.
Trump had just recently ordered the U.S. military to assist the D.C. police in cleaning up crime and homeless encampments. It was if he timed it for hosting the most esteemed and robust gathering of the heads of state of all the wealthiest members of NATO, with whom President Trump has seemingly good personal relationships. Even this, meeting in the freshly cleaned up capital city, carried with it an important message: the chief executive can ensure Americans are safe and secure at home while also spending the necessary time tending to matters of war and peace. Despite some desires of the so-called “new right” coalition, President Trump does not believe “America First” means shirking from leading in the world and using American statecraft to shape events across oceans in the way he perceives Americans’ interests at home.
At the Alaska Summit with Russia’s Putin, President Trump committed to nothing except his intention to force the war to a peaceful end. And while it’s understandable and even right for Americans to recoil at the sight of their president, legitimately elected in a free election, shaking hands on a red carpet with the former KGB officer who has dissidents murdered, President Trump did the following: He ordered a flyover of B-2 bombers and F-35 fighter jets, in a gob smacking military flex loaded with symbolism. (The B-2s were the planes that dropped the bunker busting bombs on the illegal Iranian nuclear facilities, and Iran is a partner of Russia’s.) At the press conference alongside Putin, he said he would be calling Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and NATO leaders, demonstrating he would not make any decisions without his Allies. Three days later, those Allies joined him in Washington, D.C.
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