We will probably not put "the worst sanctions possible" on Russia if they invade Ukraine. Germany and other allies would likely balk, as it would cost them financially, as well.
However, a couple points are worth being made:
- There was actually a lot of continuity when it came to the Trump/Biden handover in the realm of foreign policy, more than either side is willing to admit.*
- For example, both Trump and Biden are shifting American foreign policy resources and focus away from CT to Great Power Competition v China, Russia, and, to a lesser degree, North Korea (they do differ sharply on Iran, where Biden is wedded to a legacy policy from the Obama administration).
- Neither group "hates Putin and everything he represents" (Biden was VP of the administration with the Reset Button, after all), but both groups tend to see foreign policy now through a domestic policy lens... which is not how the rest of the world tends to see it. Our domestic political tribal bickering is not as important to the rest of the world as they are to us, and who-is-in-the-White-House is not even an important question in many disputes.
Not really picking an argument with you, but, just, general comments I felt were worth making.
* Both parties want a general retrenchment from what they see as adventurism abroad. Both wanted to ratchet back the war on terror, and get out of Afghanistan. Both want NATO to pony up more to cover the cost of the Alliance. Trump, for all his bluster and the stupid things that would come out of his mouth, did ratchet up sanctions on Russia, and, under his administration, the U.S. military killed a bunch of Russians in Syria (as was typical of that administration, there was a disconnect between policy and messaging).
