The past few weeks have been extremely disheartening, to say the least. For decades the United States has championed itself as the bastion of the free world, a place where liberal democracy and human rights triumph over oppression and authoritarianism. But it seems that these values have once again fallen away in favor of isolationism and cynicism.
Recently, the third anniversary passed of Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Three years after that unprovoked attack, Ukraine still stands strong, fighting a grueling war against Russian aggression. Ukraine has been helped in no small part by billions of dollars worth in military aid from western Europe and the United States.
Unfortunately, the future of that support seems very much in doubt since the United States made the inexplicable decision to reelect a populist, isolationist madman as president, who has aligned himself with dictators and turned his back on the free world. And it was put on full display two days ago in the Oval Office when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faced down Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during negotiations over support for Ukraine.
Both President Trump and Vice President Vance accused Zelenskyy of being "ungrateful", with Vance (falsely) accusing Zelenskyy of never "saying thank you once", and demanding that Ukraine seek "peace" with Vladimir Putin. The entire meeting quickly devolved into a shouting match which ended with President Trump kicking President Zelenskyy out of the White House.
I can't say that I'm too surprised. President Donald Trump's embrace of isolationism and adoration of foreign dictators is a fundamental part of who he is as a person. And as for isolationists, they will continue to worship imperialist dictators and ignore atrocities for as long as chickens lay eggs.
But one part of the meeting really stood out to me. When Trump - after demanding that Zelenskyy seek a "ceasefire" with Russia - was asked the very reasonable question of what would happen if Russia broke the ceasefire (as they have done countless times over the years since their war against Ukraine began), Donald Trump’s response was to immediately pivot to a whiny, petulant tirade about himself.
"What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now?", he whined. "Let me tell you, Putin went through a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia... Russia Russia Russia, have you ever hear of that deal? It was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam, Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam. And he had to go through that, and he did go through it, and we didn't end up in a war. And he was accused of it and he had nothing to do with it. And then they said 'Oh, the laptop from hell, it was made by Russia'. The whole thing was a scam and he had to put up with all that".
Notice how nothing in that inarticulate, petulant, whiny tantrum was anything even resembling a coherent response to the question - the very REAL question - of what would happen if Russia violated any ceasefire agreement with Ukraine. And that's because Donald Trump didn't have an answer, and still doesn't have an answer. Isolationists and non-interventionists like him never do. They never have and they never will. Their idea of "diplomacy" is total capitulation to imperialist dictators and tyrants, consequences be damned, in the name of "peace".
The truth is, nobody wants the war in Ukraine to stop more than Ukrainians. But unlike the diplomacy shills and faux peaceniks of the west, Ukrainians understand the stakes involved. They understand the folly of making negotiations with Russia, and with Putin in particular. If Putin wanted to end the war in Ukraine, he could end it tomorrow by withdrawing his troops from Ukraine and stopping his imperialist war of conquest against a sovereign nation that has spent years fighting for survival. But he won't do that, so the only other option is for him to suffer a devastating defeat and make his war of aggression against Ukraine unwinnable.
But the stakes of this war will go far beyond Ukraine. It puts all of Europe at risk. Does any serious person really think that Vladimir Putin will be satisfied with Ukraine if he somehow takes it? Does anyone seriously think that he won't then turn his attention to Georgia, Moldova, the Baltic States, Poland, and ultimately the rest of Europe? Does anyone really think that it would benefit the United States if the balance of power in Europe implodes, and if Putin is victorious in his genocidal wars of conquest against our allies?
During the meeting, Donald Trump accused President Zelenskyy of "gambling with World War III" by not seeking peace with Russia. But the truth is that it is Donald Trump - and the isolationists and non-interventionists like him - that are actually gambling with World War III.
World War II didn't start because the rest of Europe stood up to Adolf Hitler as he began annexing countries in Europe and embarking on expansionist campaigns against countries like Austria and Czechoslovakia. World War II started because the rest of Europe allowed their fears of another war to cripple their response to the very real threat of Nazi Germany's expansionism. It started because of people like Donald Trump and JD Vance, who thought it was better to appease a genocidal, imperialist dictator and give them anything and everything they wanted on a silver platter in the name of "peace". And when that "peace" inevitably imploded, and Europe's policy of appeasement was exposed as the fool's errand that it really was, it was, by then, too late to avoid the war that followed.
If anything positive is coming out of the utter debacle that was the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, it is that Europe is finally stepping up to do its part to back Ukraine and fight back against the Putin Regime. The reaction from the rest of Europe was near-unanimous in its support of Zelenskyy and commitment to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Even if the United States has forgotten the lessons of World War II, Europe has not. They remember what happened last time, and they know what will happen if they don't stand up this time.
Donald Trump and the isolationists like him have defended American isolationism and non-interventionism as "putting America first". It's ironic, as "America First" was also the slogan of the isolationist, anti-war movement in the United States during the last world war. But Donald Trump and his fellow isolationists are about to learn what it really means to be isolated from the rest of the world. "America First" is a failed policy that has led to immeasurable death and destruction, and the voters who so foolishly deceived themselves into voting for it are about to be in for a rude awakening. Europe is stepping up, and if the United States will no longer be the leader of the free world, the mantle will pass to someone else who is willing to step up for what is right. And with it will fade American hegemony and its right to call itself a superpower on the world stage.
America has a long and ugly history of putting itself first, and of taking their status as a superpower for granted. But America is now about to learn what it truly means to be alone.
I just hope that those "cheaper egg prices" were worth it.