If you have been reading the news over the last week, you might think the United States was on the precipice of throwing Ukraine to the wolves, turning its back on Europe, and reconciling with Russian President Vladimir Putin, perhaps the most hated man in the world. President Donald Trump‘s Feb. 12 phone call to Putin, U.S. Vice President JD Vance‘s scorching speech to the Europeans during the Munich Security Conference, the first in-person meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in years, and the war-of-words between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky all have European politicians, foreign policy experts, and the journalists covering them spooked about a possible sea-change in Europe’s security architecture.
The Trump administration’s early machinations toward Ukraine and Europe have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. The New Yorker‘s Susan B. Glasser asserted that Trump sold out Ukraine after a single phone call. “It is difficult to put into words what an about-face this is for US support for Ukraine, which for years was built on helping the country defend itself, though not win the war,” The Guardian‘s Andrew Roth wrote. The consensus opinion is best summed up by Peter Baker of The New York Times: “Mr. Trump is in the middle of executing one of the most jaw-dropping pivots in American foreign policy in generations, a 180-degree turn that will force friends and foes to recalibrate in fundamental ways.”
But is the consensus actually accurate? Boisterous headlines aside, some perspective is desperately needed. There are a few points to keep in mind.
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