An important part of American political folklore is that presidents in trouble travel. So it wasn’t terribly surprising that President Trump announced he was flying to Alaska to meet fellow strongman Vladimir Putin.
Trump hoped the much-hyped trip would divert public attention from the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal and allow him to come home a hero with a Noble Peace Prize for himself and a peace deal carving up Ukraine.
A peace deal would have been a feather in his cap and a new chapter in his famous ghostwritten book, “The Art of the Deal.” Instead, the meeting became an epilogue that could called “The Art of the Kneel.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky learned the hard way about another old political proverb which reads, “When you not at the table, you’re on the menu.” Before the conference started, Trump announced he would take “severe” measures against Russia if the former Soviet strongman didn’t agree to a ceasefire. Then, the acronym “TACO” took effect — Trump Always Chickens Out — when he declared after the meeting that he supported Putin’s position for an immediate peace conference while the war still raged.
Trump melted like hot butter in the warm Anchorage summer sun and threw Zelensky and millions of brave Ukrainians under the wheels of Russian tanks.
Reportedly, Trump accepted Putin’s demands for territorial annexations. All Ukrainians got from Trump’s travels was a lousy tee shirt with the imprint “Putin Came and Trump Caved.” Americans were lucky that the president didn’t give back Alaska to Russia as a bon voyage gift to Putin. Even Fox News anchor Marie Harf declared that Putin “steamrolled” Trump.
Russian military forces are steadily making inroads into Ukraine. The absence of a ceasefire is a boon to Putin and a problem for the undermanned Ukrainians who have held off the invaders for years against all odds. Trump pulled the rug out from under them during the talks in Anchorage.
Why didn’t Trump stand up to Putin? Inquiring minds want to know. Did the former Soviet KGB agent gain access to dirt on the U.S. leader in the top-secret Epstein files? Does Trump for all his bully bluster just turn to jelly when he confronts a leader with a stronger will?
Monday, Zelensky met the U.S. president in the White House along with European leaders who came along to help the Ukrainian leader stiffen Trump’s spine against the Russian dictator. The all-star cast of Ukrainian supporters included French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The European contingent pushed Trump for U.S. guarantees against Russian expansion.
Those leaders are rightfully fearful of Russian expansion into their backyards and don’t trust Trump to keep the hungry bear at bay after it devours a slice of Ukraine.
NATO heads of state still maintain a vivid memory of another fateful summit meeting long ago when British Prime Minster Neville Chamberlain went to Munich, homburg in hand, and surrendered Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler’s not so tender mercies. That was the beginning of the end for the rest of continental Europe.
Other countries could be on the menu to fill another dictator’s insatiable appetite to reconstitute the old Soviet bloc that he so faithfully served for so many years. Letting the Russian strongman take Eastern Ukraine would simply reward Russian aggression and encourage him to take even more territory.
Joining Trump at this meeting was his Vice President JD Vance who is a vocal opponent of military support for Ukraine. Before the Alaska meeting, the veep undermined his own president’s bargaining power when he announced that we’re out of the Ukraine war funding business. So, who does Putin fear from the United States in his relentless and reckless quest to return central Europe to the Soviet, excuse me Russian fold? Certainly not Trump or Vance.
Most Americans don’t pay much attention to national security problems. Especially when the cost of living is so high. But the public should worry and worry hard when it has a president who can’t stand up to foreign dictators.
Freedom abroad and democracy in the U.S. are not safe with Trump in charge. Federal troops occupy Washington, D.C. and Russian forces control the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. Tyranny is on the march across the world. Americans can’t expect Trump to stop it.
Brad Bannon is a national Democratic strategist and CEO of Bannon Communications Research which polls for Democrats, labor unions and progressive issue groups. He hosts the popular progressive podcast on power, politics and policy, Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon.
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