Editor’s note: Frida Gitis Former CNN producer and correspondent and world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to the Washington Post, and a columnist to the World Politics Review. Her views expressed in this comment are her own.view more opinions On CNN.
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When Donald Trump became president in 2017, Russians secretly and publicly uncorked champagne all over Moscow. They believed that Trump’s victory would be beneficial to the Kremlin. Bubbles should be flowing again today. Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t even have to wait to celebrate the 2024 election and President Trump’s possible return to the White House.
President Trump has already proven very useful to President Putin.
The former president and his MAGA supporters are putting together a rare gift for the Russian leader in time for the second anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
With each passing day, they appear closer to forcing the United States to break its promise and abandon Ukraine, along with other war-torn regions and Indo-Pacific defenses.
For a moment, it looked like the US Congress would act responsibly. It was strange that emergency aid to Ukraine was included in the border security bill. But the carefully negotiated bill, which included almost everything Republicans had asked for to address the border crisis, was suddenly killed by Trump’s Republican allies.
Never mind that MAGA activists have spent years suggesting that nothing is more important than border control. Never mind that this law imposes the most restrictive restrictions in decades. It includes funding for Israel’s war against Hamas, humanitarian aid to Gaza, funding for operations in the Red Sea, as well as the support Ukraine needs to fight a war of vital importance to the United States and its allies. There’s no need to worry about it being there. There, the Iranian-backed Houthis have fired missiles at ships and near Taiwan, an autonomous island claimed by China.
No, this bill was declared invalid by Trump’s allies because the former president decided it wasn’t good for Trump.
President Trump has made clear he wants chaos at the border so he can criticize Biden and campaign on the issue. Solving the issue would be a “gift” to Democrats, he said.
For President Trump, the worse the situation in the United States, the more likely he is to use dissatisfaction to paint the Biden administration as a failure. That’s why he said he hopes a recession, or “collapse” of the economy, will occur by the end of the year.
It’s a surprisingly cynical tactic for someone trying to persuade voters to put him in power. It may or may not go well in the polls, but policymaking is already slipping into a deliberately counterproductive mess. Incredibly, he expects his supporters in Congress to vote against bills that they believe will benefit the country. It’s the exact opposite of patriotism.
President Trump’s colleagues in Congress were quick to chime in, even before they saw the border bill. And after he threatened Republican supporters with “career-ending,” many Republicans who might have wanted to support the party quietly left.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) declared himself “appalled” by the results.Republicans got everything they asked for, he wrote to X, and they “killed.”
Barring a miracle, this bill is doomed, and it is very likely that it will also end any prospect of significant US aid to Ukraine.
Imagine the joy in Moscow!
CIA Director Bill Burns said earlier this year that abandoning Ukraine was a mistake of “historic proportions.”
Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney pointed to the long-term effects. “At President Trump’s behest,” she said. I wrote to X, Republicans are not only abandoning border security agreements, but also America’s allies in Ukraine. “Trump and the (Republican Party) are deliberately losing the war with an unforgivable betrayal that will only strengthen America’s enemies for years to come,” she added.
The machinations of Trump and his allies are turning the United States into a weaker and less respected force in the world. This country is dysfunctional, unreliable, and seemingly unable to solve problems or keep promises on even the most urgent matters.
If Trump’s main reason for sabotaging the border security deal is to perpetuate an issue that hurts Biden, then hurting Ukraine and aiding Russia is not at all in line with the views Biden has told us. It’s not the opposite.
It’s not just that he finds it very difficult to express criticism of Putin, but also that when Putin launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Trump will not be able to move forward with Putin’s actions. It’s not just that he was furious, calling it “genius…quite clever!” (He later condemned the invasion, but somehow blamed Biden.)
When asked during a CNN town hall last year whether he wanted to see Ukraine win, he dodged the question and boasted that he would end the war “in a day.” 24 hours,” he said, complaining that the United States was giving Kiev too much ammunition.
The statement was widely interpreted as suggesting that, if elected, he would cut off U.S. aid and subsequently pressure Ukraine to surrender its land to Russian invaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Trump’s comments “very dangerous.”
There are no subtle signs that Mr. Trump’s victory will ease Mr. Putin’s path to victory, and Mr. Putin has little incentive to end the war quickly.
Supporters of aid to Ukraine (and Israel) are not giving up. There is also talk of another aid bill for Ukraine, but Trump’s allies share his skepticism. A standalone bill on aid for Israel has already been introduced, but little progress has been made.
Western aid to Ukraine is not selfless. NATO members, especially those previously conquered by Moscow, believe that Russia will be emboldened to attack if Ukraine loses. Just this week, an assessment by Danish intelligence agencies found that very likely Russia says it intends to use “military force” against NATO. The report said the Russian government wants to increase its presence in the Baltic Sea and is increasingly willing to take risks. Trump, a NATO skeptic, has questioned the United States’ willingness to protect NATO allies.
This is the Russia that some MAGA members embrace. Disgraced former Fox provocateur Tucker Carlson is currently meeting with President Putin in Moscow. The Russian media treats him like a dying celebrity. No wonder. Carlson, who Trump had previously said he would consider as a running mate, like other members of the MAGA far-right media, parroted talking points fabricated to justify Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. .
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Ukraine’s once-proud resistance to the Russian invaders is faltering as President Trump derails aid. The Ukrainians are still fighting bravely and winning some impressive victories, but their ammunition is quickly running out. More casualties are occurring due to the inability to replenish weapons.
more Ukrainians deadit is no exaggeration to say that it is the result of the shameful events at the Capitol.
Ukraine is ramping up production of drones and artillery, and Europe is trying to fill the gap. The European Union just approved $50 billion in additional aid. The Netherlands has just pledged to send more fighter jets, and European countries are also rushing to ramp up production, but that will take time.
The United States has by far the largest military arsenal in the world. Without Washington’s support for emerging democracies facing perhaps the most aggressive of America’s enemies, Russia could emerge victorious.
It would have enormous negative consequences for the United States, its democratic allies, and global stability.
No amount of champagne will be enough to fully appreciate the significance of that victory for President Putin and his regime.