We are no longer 'Leader of the Free World'

For the first time since the end of WWII, the position of “Leader of the Free World” is vacant. Donald Trump relinquished that title formally on Friday with a disastrous and embarrassing meeting with Ukraine’s President Zelensky, and all the world watched it unfold.

Trump claims he wants “peace”, but he advocates for allowing Russia to keep the territory it illegally seized in its decade-long campaign of invasion, propaganda and bloodshed. And to be clear: Russia is both the invader and aggressor. Period.

What Trump wants is to claim credit for a flimsy ceasefire without U.S. security guarantees and a U.S. right to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in a “deal” more akin to a mob shakedown.

I’m no war hawk, I’m a student of history. In school we learned of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 agreement with Adolf Hitler to cede Czechoslovakian territory to Germany in exchange for Germany’s end to its territorial ambitions (i.e., the type of peace deal Trump now hopes to get from Putin). We all know how well that went.

Bottom line: you don’t appease a dictator. The alternative is to risk further death and destruction down the road. I seriously wonder if MAGA Republicans ever learned this in their schooling.

Now the Free World meets without the U.S. with the EU tasked to take over the leadership role. Indeed, the EU foreign minister announced Friday on X that “Today it became clear that the free world needs a new leader.”

Contrary to what Trump says, the U.S. is not more respected than we were four years ago. The democracies of the world will move forward without us. The authoritarian countries will be emboldened by our unwillingness to support our long-time allies.

Which side of freedom will the U.S. ultimately fall on?

– Brian Walsh, Polson