Friedman: Trump, Vance make clear who's side they're on
By Thomas Friedman / The New York Times
What happened in the Oval Office on Friday — the obviously preplanned ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance — was something that has never happened in the nearly 250-year history of this country: In a major war in Europe, our president clearly sided with the aggressor, the dictator and the invader against the democrat, the freedom fighter and the invaded.
You want an analogy? Imagine if when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the White House earlier this month, Trump and Vance told him that the war with Hamas had gone on too long, too many lives had been lost and it was costing America too much money, so it was time for Bibi and the Israeli people to do a deal with the Hamas aggressor.
Because Russia did to Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, what Hamas did to Israel on Oct. 7, 2023: a surprise invasion, murder and the ensuing sexual violence to wreak destruction on another nation and its society. Trump took Bibi’s side 110 percent against Hamas, and now he is taking Putin’s side 110 percent against Zelensky and Ukraine.
It is hard to express what a break this is in U.S. foreign policy. We have always stood on the side of liberty and those fighting for it around the world. There are times the isolationist forces in our population have held us back and had to be persuaded. There are times when — in support of the larger cause of liberty — against dangerous foes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, we have had to align ourselves temporarily with dictators.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/friedman-trump-vance-make-clear-whos-side-theyre-on/