A Surviving Facts Blog
We’ve just completed Trump’s first month in the White House. I’m sure you’ve read the news: the US joined with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea in the latest UN resolution on Ukraine. I’m struggling to convey the horrible significance of this move. But here it is plain: we are now the enemy. Putin and Kim Jung Un are two of the world’s most reviled dictators. We sided with them.
The resolution the US supported, on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, separated from our European allies by refusing to condemn Russia for its aggression and refusing to affirm Ukraine’s territory. The European-backed resolution condemned Russia. Both resolutions called for an end to the war.
The impact for our country is enormous. With this decision, the US has supported acts of aggression to expand Russia’s territory, and by extension, has permitted Russia to consider other expansion efforts.
With this move, our longstanding commitment to NATO and Europe has been broken. French President Macron tried to reason with Trump about the importance of our ally-ship and volunteered to send a European team to work with the Ukraine on ending the war. Trump refused to consider Macron’s input, widening an already growing rift between the US and Europe. Trump said he plans to visit Russia once a peace agreement is reached.
The primary difference between Trump’s and Macron’s position is that Europe will not support any agreement requiring Ukraine to surrender or give up territorial sovereignty.
The vote to support Russia also followed a week of Trump attempting to bully Ukraine President Zelensky in giving up Ukraine mineral rites in exchange for ending the war. Zelensky stood up against the attempt, igniting Trump’s contempt and threats, which Trump pushed out on Twitter. Trump incorrectly claimed Zelensky is a dictator and said “he better move fast” because Zelensky “isn’t necessary to any peace talks.” Huh?
Some news coverage, especially on the conservative side, positioned the US departure as the US garnering support for their own UN proposal. The Wall Street Journal, for example, titled their article, “US Wins Backing for U.N. Resolution on Ukraine War That Doesn’t Blame Russia.” This is misleading, however. The European agreement received the support of 93 nations with the US voting against it, as detailed above. The U.N. then passed the US resolution, but only after the US added language supporting the Ukraine. Given the broken international relationships wrought by this debate, I question that this is a “win.”
Trump also touted his tariffs, pushing forward to enact them soon. And he criticized previous US and Mexico and Canada trade agreements saying, they are “terrible, terrible” and disadvantageous to the US. Who signed this “terrible business deal”? Trump did. He signed an agreement to replace NAFTA with the United States Mexico Canada Agreement on July 1. 2020. If you didn’t catch what that means: Trump is criticizing his own trade deal.
There’s so much more to say. The stock market is down. Americans are losing jobs. Some economists warn of recession. Elon Musk’s approval rating is around 26%, and Trump’s approval rating has plummeted. What this tells us is that Trump’s moves to “make America great again” are not resonating with businesses or Americans in both parties. Indeed, some MAGA diehards are beginning to question the chaos and uncertainty wrought by Trump’s first month as the 47th President.
I would love to hear from you, even if, especially if, you disagree. Perhaps we can bring back the American tradition era of debate. Please like and share this blog with others. Subscribe to receive it by email and go directly to the Walk the Moon website to peruse the full collection of articles and updates. You can email me from the Walk the Moon website as well.
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