Donald Trump is an easy man to loathe—his lies, cruelty, vindictiveness, corruption, disregard for constitutional norms, and sheer recklessness are unprecedented in an American president. These qualities infect both his subordinates, many of whom are palpably unfit for their positions, and the congressional party composed largely of cowards and sycophants over which he presides. Both he and they are truly awful.
Focusing on all of those characteristics, however, is the wrong way to understand him, or even assess what he is doing. He is easy to caricature, and many have done so, turning him into a storybook villain reminiscent of J. K. Rowling’s Lord Voldemort or J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sauron. The truth is more complicated and more interesting.
You can see the tendency to caricature Trump at work in the reactions to his evolving Ukraine policy. Plenty of thoughtful, normally moderate observers have insisted that the president is, wittingly or not, a Russian agent, and that his hatred of Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is so bitter that he wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to win. They insist that his policy is, in fact, shaped not merely by respect for Putin but also by a kind of gangsterish affection for the Russian dictator, leading to the de facto alignment of American policy with that of Russia. Yet this view simply does not square with the facts.
The transfers of American arms to Ukraine that were authorized during Biden’s administration have continued, with two brief interruptions: one in March, following the Oval Office visit during which Vice President J. D. Vance and Trump himself berated a startled Zelensky, and another in June, when the Pentagon suspended those shipments. The first suspension lasted a week, and the latter a few days. In June, the Pentagon acted without Trump’s authorization, a testament to the absence of an orderly foreign-policy process. The White House quickly reversed that decision, and the arms continue to flow.
The United States has also hammered out a deal with NATO countries to purchase American hardware—particularly Patriot air-defense missiles and supporting radar and control units—to either transfer to Ukraine or replace their own systems, which the Europeans will then send to Ukraine. Trump has publicly committed to this arrangement, and even hinted at the transfer of more-advanced offensive weaponry. By all accounts, the process for doing this is under way, to the point that Ukraine has been moved ahead of Switzerland in the queue for Patriot sales.
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