3.6.22
Whatever you think of President Biden, the fact that he is sitting in the White House — and Donald Trump isn't — is the best thing the United States has going for it in this present crisis. Russia's invasion of Ukraine demands a response that is both firm and restrained, a hard balance to achieve because it requires a willingness to punish Vladimir Putin while at the same time not allowing the cycle of escalation to spin out of control. That requires a combination of good judgment and diplomatic skills to execute correctly. Biden hasn't been perfect, but so far his administration has mostly found the sweet spot. Good for him, and us. Trump, meanwhile, is out there doing what he always does: Saying provocative, dangerous stuff. Here he is on Saturday night, speaking to Republican donors in New Orleans: Maybe he was joking. But presidents, and those who aspire to the presidency, don't have the luxury of frivolity in matters of war and peace. Over the last few weeks, Trump has reminded us of three characteristics that make him unsuitable for national leadership during wartime:
He's erratic. In the span of just a few days, the former president has gone from praising Putin's designs on Ukraine as an act of "genius" to musing about the possibility of secretly starting a war with the Russians. Bill Barr says in his new book that Trump told him the secret to a good tweet was "just the right amount of crazy." Biden has contained the crisis with Russia largely by making sure Putin doesn't have to guess about his intentions. He's surrounded by the wrong people. Trump's former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has gone in a few days from praising Putin as a "capable statesman". Trump sidekick Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) tweeted last week about assassinating Putin. He's got that weird relationship with Putin. You don't have to believe in "collusion" to note this. who can forget the 2018 Helsinki summit, where Trump sided with Putin against his own intelligence agencies about Russia's meddling in the presidential election? Finally, there's the nuclear question. Not just because Trump is so given to unpredictable impulses, but also because Putin — who has been happy to raise the specter of Armageddon over the last few weeks — might find his own trigger finger made more itchy by Trump's less-than-steady behavior. For the sake of all humanity, the situation calls for more cool heads rather than fewer, and that's just not what Trump brings to the table. Thank God he's not president right now.
