Trump Praises Putin's Thuggery. Will Other Leaders Join to Aid a World in Peril?

Former President Donald Trump today praised the “savvy” of Vladimir Putin, calling his invasion of Ukraine “genius.” The ex-president told a TV news program, “Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine–of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful. So Putin is now saying it’s independent – a large section of Ukraine. I said how smart is that? And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force. We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right…Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.”

Trump ignores that those Russian tanks aren’t in Russian territory, they are in Ukraine. Trump is arguing for the US to capriciously and illegally follow Putin’s lead by declaring parts of Mexico independent, invade the country and establish an armed occupation force. This isn’t just inciting an insurrection, as he is accused of doing leading up to the assault on the Capitol. This time, he is urging an illegal invasion of a friendly country. How does anyone not condemn this outrageous international thuggery?

Trump knows how to play on the core fears of his followers, as is willing to do so even if it would make America an international outlaw on par with Russia. A University of Chicago study of the Jan. 6 insurrection found that the strongest correlation between the insurrectionists and demographics is this: They were much more likely to come from a county in which the white share of the population was in decline. “For every one-point drop in a county’s percentage of non-Hispanic whites from 2015 to 2019, the likelihood of an insurgent hailing from that county increased by 25%” (“January 6 was practice,” Atlantic).

At a moment of extreme danger for the US and the entire world, the ex-president thinks only about how he can drive the wedge between Americans even deeper and create and even wider gap. Politics — his own — always comes first with Trump.

Maybe, just maybe, Trump finally has crossed a line for even the most sycophantic Republican politician. Perhaps this is the point at which President Biden and Republicans who still care more about their country than their party to do two things:

First, let Putin know that US resolve is strong and bipartisan. Biden is right to not commit US troops to Ukraine, but there is much more than can and should be done. Biden and congressional leaders of both parties should jointly announce support for sanctions on Russia and a new package of economic and military support for Ukraine. And, they should join in a pledge that the commitment of support extends beyond the next Election Day, whatever the outcome.

Second, Biden has to rally support beyond Washington. He needs to engage local government officials, business and civic leaders and the faith communities in making the case for US support of Ukraine. It is the right thing to do and, frankly, it is the self-serving thing to do. A Russia unleashed and unrestrained — a Russia that invades another country and is praised by a former US president for its savvy — is a far more dangerous threat to the US than we have seen in a long, long time.

The question now is whether America has the strength to stand up to the world’s bullies or do we praise their “genius” even as they are plotting our demise? Donald Trump has put his stake in the ground. Will others, Democrats and Republicans alike, have the courage to bring light to a world growing darker?