The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Shortly after taking his oath of office Trump (with acquiescence by cowardly congressional Republicans) signaled complete abandonment of Ukraine: opposing a United Nations resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine; selling out Ukraine’s territorial integrity to Russia; Trump and Vance’s browbeating Ukrainian President Zelensky and pausing U.S. intelligence and military aid to Ukraine with little pushback from congressional Republicans.
Some U.S. military aid was resumed amid Trump’s complete failure to negotiate a ceasefire between Putin and Ukraine. Meanwhile Russia escalated its war with nightly drone and missile attacks, killing civilians across Ukraine. The GOP-led Congress, including all Wisconsin Republicans, watched the killing and destruction and did nothing. Then U.S. military aid was paused again, despite the carnage. But last week Trump restored the aid, condemned Putin and promised to sell arms to Europe for distribution to Ukraine. Trump also indicated he might support tariffs on Russia and its trading partners that buy Russian oil.
Head-turning flip-flop. Trump defensively and disingenuously said: “He (Putin) fooled Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden – he didn’t fool me.” Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said Trump made a policy reversal for several reasons: “First, he believed that Putin was disrespecting him, feigning a readiness to make peace, but ignoring the U.S. president’s call for a ceasefire. Second, he saw the efficacy of U.S. military power … against Iran, and Third, he thought Putin would only negotiate if threatened with greater force.” But Trump’s delusions about Putin caused murderous consequences for Ukrainians.
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Trump wasn’t alone. Wisconsin GOP Representative Derrick Van Orden voted against the last U.S. military aid that Congress approved in 2024. Van Orden, like Trump, has blood on his hands. Now their earlier political and military abandonment of Ukraine has taken a sharp U-turn. Van Orden has pivoted from denouncing Biden’s “endless war” to endorsing Trump’s policy reversal: “I explicitly trust Donald Trump. I call him the peacemaker in chief. He knows what he’s doing, and I trust him.” Van Orden is incapable of admitting a mistake. His previous support for ending military aid cost Ukraine dearly.
However, Van Orden knows how to kowtow before Trump. Venting while talking out both sides of his mouth during the consideration and passage of the “Big Beautiful Act”, Van Orden said: “We’re not a bunch of little bitches around here, okay? I’m a member of Congress.” Appalling. However, another test beckons.
A bipartisan Senate bill, with 85 sponsors, would penalize China and India for buying Russian oil, which finances Russia’s war against Ukraine. They would face a 500 percent tariff on any exports to the United States. Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin supports the bill. Moreover, Washington Post conservative columnist George Will condemned Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson and other senators for not supporting the bill: “What are you thinking? And why do you want to be senators?”
The bill may pass in the GOP-led Congress. What will Van Orden do? And if Congress approves the legislation will Trump sign it and implement the tariffs? Meanwhile, Ukrainians are dying.
– Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
