Evidence from the past few days shows that they are all cheating on themselves.
This is a warning story for patriotic Americans who work for President Donald Trump.
President Richard Nixon recruited William P. Rogers, a well-known Republican attorney, as his secretary of state. In the following four years, Nixon humiliated Rogers again and again.
The worst of humiliation is the negotiation that involves peace in Vietnam. When Rogers nominally presided over US diplomacy, Nixon held secret negotiations with the North Vietnamese. Rogers was completely placed in the darkness. His only character ended up with him as he landed in documents in southern Vietnam and signed them.
That sad history seems to be repeating now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia, pretending to be responsible for negotiations between the United States and Russia in Ukraine's fate. Rubio is the ideal autumn character for this mission. He was confirmed as Secretary of State on a 99-0 vote, and he has received praise from all parties for his commitment to American institutions and values.
Meanwhile, the actual decision was made elsewhere. Trump blamed Ukraine for starting a war with Russia yesterday. In the Oval Office, he is preparing a deal to make Russia defeat Ukraine because it failed to win on the battlefield. The expected Trump deal will enable Ukrainian territory to trade with Russia and Ukraine from once joining NATO. Trump hopes to impose sanctions on Russia as soon as possible, which is another unilateral concession by Putin. Yesterday, Trump accepted the Russian position that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky must face reelection before peace talks begin. Again, there is no such requirement for Putin.
Trump demanded that Ukraine's economic benefits be half trillion dollars. If Ukraine says yes, then its economic recovery will be destroyed before it begins. If more realistically, Ukraine refused, then Trump would have the excuse to remove Ukraine from future US security aid. Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance scolded the U.S. NATO allies in an attempt to police the disinformation of Trump’s biggest donor and de facto co-president Elon Musk withdrew. Vance and Musk are both outspoken opponents of Ukraine’s fight for survival. Trump even considered Russia's invitation to join Putin in Moscow to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Russia's "Victory Day" defeat of Nazi Germany, which will now also symbolize Putin's victory over Ukraine and NATO.
On Wednesday morning, Trump denounced Zelensky as a "dictator", which greatly exaggerated the United States' contribution to Ukraine's self-defense, while also denying and depreciating Europe's greater contribution.
Trump is surrounded by more ordinary Republicans trying to get himself into his pro-Russian anti-Ukrainian inner circle. When Trump was nominated for the Republican president, Senator Rubio suddenly reversed his previous support for Ukrainian aid. In February 2024, Rubio voted on aid package for Ukraine and Israel among 29 senators, a vote he defended in Trump-style language that wrongly claimed aid to Ukraine At the cost of law enforcement at the U.S. border. Michael Waltz, the representative of the time, is now Trump's national security adviser, changing his coat almost completely at the same time.
Both may think they are on a tactical retreat to serve a bigger cause to safeguard Trump’s credibility to protect the United States and its allies from Trump’s worst intuition. Trump's special adviser in Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, may bring similar hope.
But evidence from the past few days shows that they are all deceiving themselves. Trump hopes to give up Ukraine more than anything he wants to do, except possibly protecting and pardoning the January 6 criminal. His assistant is playing the role of William P. Rogers, even if the real action is happening.
If that's not the way they want to be remembered, then they have to act quickly. They must first realize that the president wants to destroy Ukraine and be surrounded by promoters who want to help him.
Maybe Trump can be resolved, but if the pro-American faction within this administration wants to make themselves feel themselves, they must be prepared to be as strong and rough as the president's pro-ordinary faction.
William P. Rogers was eventually fired by Nixon for something he didn't want to say and did everything Nixon defended Nixon during the Wagergate scandal. That's the fate of all those who join this administration and hope to make things better. Trump is determined to make the situation worse. He is the president, and the people he cares most support it with his anti-Uklin perspective. Noisy resignation is the ultimate weapon of political appointments, and people within governments that care about good names in the United States are better prepared to use it. Otherwise, they will be used as fools and fronts in the government, which seems to bring Russian interests to the United States' own leading position.