President of the United States, No Longer Leader of the Free World
President Donald Trump made it official yesterday with the ample support of his Vice President, JD Vance. He and the United States with him are no longer the “Leader of the Free World.” It was a title that is now meaningless as the NATO countries, on their own, are going to back Ukraine in its struggle against Russian imperialism.
It has taken President Trump barely more than 30 days to divorce the United States from our principal political allies and trading partners in Europe – as well as Canada and Mexico by virtue of newly imposed tariffs. For all practical purposes, we are out of NATO which was the military collective keeping Putin aggression in check.
As you are no doubt aware by now, the idiot tag-team of Trump and Vance threw Ukraine President Zelensky out of The White House yesterday, without his signing the highly touted minerals agreement Trump thought he had in the bag, without making any attempt to salvage our relationship with Ukraine or to serve lunch which was waiting in the hallways. Trump and Vance were offended by everything about President Zelensky, from the way he was dressed to his respect for truth and reality and for failing to be sufficiently humble before them.
Trump and Vance were rude, nasty, demonstrably uninformed, and outright dishonest in their attacks on President Zelensky – which is their nature. They are an embarrassment to our county for which they should apologize, but won’t.
So, the NATO nations of Europe are now meeting without us. “America First” turns out to be Trump-speak for “America Alone.” Please pardon my language, but Trump has turned our country into what appears to be a nation of ignorant assholes – which we are not. His affection for Vladimir Putin has encouraged and no doubt emboldened Mr. Putin and China, significantly reducing geopolitical stability worldwide.vl
Not incidentally, Trump’s strangely explicit alignment with Mr. Putin – even to the point of his almost verbatim adopting many of Putin’s positions and the potential reopening of Russian spy-centric consulates throughout the United States – would disqualify President Trump from obtaining a security clearance. Our government, in other words, and before recent Musk cutbacks, would not have allowed the hiring of President Trump for his current position had he not been elected to it. To say that Trump is acting like a de facto Russian (and Chinese) operative is barely an exaggeration.
Neither Trump nor Vance understands the difference between diplomacy and appeasement. For political, mostly egotistical reasons, Trump would force an end to the war in Ukraine whatever the cost. The countries of Europe understand the flaw in this strategy, having been there and done that once before. You don’t control a bully by letting him slap you around.
Wow. Heck of a day. Trump’s management of all this is certainly highly problematic if not outright scary. But then what’s much more troublesome is the continuing lack of pushback from Republicans in Congress. Is there nothing Trump can do that they find unacceptable, reprehensible, or dangerous? How about just crass and impolite?
I used to think that Republicans in the House were reluctant to oppose President Trump for fear of political retribution, but that no longer makes any sense. Trump’s ire isn’t what they need to worry about. The way things are going, their continuing silence or support for Trump in the face of the domestic and international mess he’s making is going to cost them their jobs – and their Party’s place in history.
I have a technical question for Congress… I don’t believe President Trump has the singular authority to stop support for Ukraine which has to be ordered by Congress. Before we all go down the rabbit hole by virtue of yesterday’s turn of events, am I not correct that, legally, all we need is a literal handful of Republicans in the House and Senate to command the President to fund Ukraine? And that would be that. Despite all his blustering, it only takes a few, less than a handful of Republicans with the courage to speak the truth to override Trump’s presumption of being a charge and bring his pro-Putin foreign policy to its knees.
Come on, a handful of Republicans in Congress. Show the courage, the commitment to reality, truth, and your country that you want your children and grandchildren to learn about in school someday.
Did Zelensky bow down to King Donald? No. Zelensky isn’t the ass-kissing type. He’s fighting for his country. His people are dying for us and for our allies in Europe. The problem for all of us is that even if he makes a deal with President Trump, he (Trump) can’t be trusted to honor that deal any more than Putin has honored any of his agreements with Ukraine. More to the point, legally, it’s not up to President Trump to make agreements with foreign countries. A President can craft those agreements but, ultimately, it’s up to Congress to approve them.
Once again, in America, it only takes a few, less than five for crying out loud, Republicans in the House and Senate to remind Donald Trump who’s in charge. We are. And if our Representatives don’t know that by now, we’ll just have to tough it out until 2026 to remind them.
After President Trump had his people tell Zelensky that there would be no more talking for now, President Zelensky wanted to continue their discussions. Trump declined, choosing instead to give Zelensky the message that he shouldn’t come back unless he really wanted to end the war – meaning on terms Trump and Putin would dictate. Since then, we’ve found out that President Trump had a MAGA event scheduled for later in the day, the importance of which apparently exceeded world peace and the threat of a World War III that he keeps warning us about every chance he gets.
Les Cohen is a long-term Marylander, having grown up in Annapolis. Professionally, he writes and edits materials for business and political clients from his base of operations in Columbia, Maryland. He has a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Economics. Leave a comment or feel free to send him an email to [email protected].
Some Republicans were critical of how President Zelensky was dressed, but I didn’t hear anyone commenting on Elon Musk’s outfit when he spoke to the Cabinet the other day wearing all black, including a “Tech Support” t-shirt – instead of business shirt and tie – and black farmer’s-style “Make America Great Again” hat inside.
And then there are those dorky, far from business-like red MAGA hats that President Trump wears when he leaves The White House and there are cameras on the lawn. Like he really cares about his base as long as they keep supporting him in the polls.