Trump is wrong on Ukraine.

The President has again let his personal quest for revenge cloud his better judgment.

When Trump said in a Tuesday press conference that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to blame for the Ukraine War, I was in shock. Surely, a more moderate position would ensue. Trump, instead, wrote this on Wednesday:

It’s personal with Trump. The statement is so filled with unconscionable falsehoods that it must be partly rooted in Trump’s failure to persuade Zelenskyy to go after Joe and Hunter Biden in July and August 2019. Trump was impeached for briefly holding up $400 million in aid to Ukraine as a quid pro quo for Zelenskyy’s action or lack thereof, which now looks minor given DOGE’s clawback of billions of foreign aid. But the lesson stuck. In Trump’s twisted, vengeful logic, Zelenskyy is to blame for Trump’s disgrace and subsequent impeachment and for failing to expose the Bidens’ transparent corruption in Ukraine.

The problem is that Trump’s statement above is ridiculously false. First, Putin started the war, not Zelenskyy. Second, it would be suicidal for Zelenskyy to hold elections now, especially with so many soldiers in the field. He was perfectly within his constitutional rights to suspend elections during martial law. Third, the U.S. has not spent nearly the amount that Trump claims. Finally, claiming that Zelenskyy is a “dictator” while Putin is not is insane. Putin is the dictator here, not Zelenskyy, who enjoys over 50% popularity.

Now, on other fronts, Trump is partially correct. The war couldn't be won with the current configuration. If the U.S. and Europe had put troops on the ground, that is another matter. Especially Europe. All evidence suggests that Putin is on the ropes, financially and militarily, and heavily dependent on China for resource purchases. European troops could tip the balance, even with the hundreds of thousands of conscripts at Putin’s disposal. Trump is also correct in saying that Biden never attempted to achieve peace. And if the measure of success is whether he brought peace, Zelenskyy is indeed a failure. But we are talking about an existential crisis. Trump is blaming Zelenskyy for options he never had.

The consequences of Trump’s reckless statement have been immediate and severe. It is up to the European Union to launch a robust effort to defend Ukraine. So far, they have been tentative at best. Now, they must get serious.

U.S. negotiations in Riyadh with Russia should be disregarded. The U.S. shouldn’t even be in Riyadh, which normalizes a diabolical murderer like Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who ordered the killing of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That the U.S. is kowtowing to this criminal is a disgrace.

Trump must be isolated in his dark and catastrophic view. The U.S. Congress must respond in unison by backing Zelenskyy, continuing to appropriate funds for the fight, and taking the gloves off by allowing Ukraine to use offensive weapons inside Russia. Republicans who embrace the truth need to speak out forcefully. My congressman, Don Bacon, already has.

Trump has been impressive in his launch of DOGE, which has exposed, with fits and starts, enormous fraud, waste, and abuse. I hope for a net 30% drop in overall federal government expenditures. That would be a massive win for Trump as he works to fight inflation while maintaining his campaign promises on tax cuts. I am also impressed with the President’s work to deport illegal immigrants who have been found guilty of other crimes. Those deportations need to happen faster and in far greater numbers, but that they are happening at all is a credit to Trump’s leadership.

But in terms of Ukraine, Trump needs to be isolated. He thinks Putin is his friend. He’s wrong. Putin is the enemy of everything we hold dear. And he must be captured, tried before an international court for crimes against humanity, and executed. That Trump does not grasp this fact is a horrible blind spot that we must now defend against.