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President Trump continues to extort Ukraine with what amounted to an economic colonization proposal all the while he denigrates Ukraine’s heroic President and lays the groundwork for handing significant parts of Ukraine to an imperialist expansionist Russia.
In doing so, Trump is putting Europe’s security at growing risk. If Trump can turn on invaluable and longstanding allies, neighbors, and friends like he has on Canada and Mexico, he could refuse to honor NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee should Russia seek to reclaim parts of once Soviet-occupied Europe by military force.
What happens in Ukraine concerns all of Europe. On the eve of Neville Chamberlain’s shocking betrayal of Czechoslovakia, Winston Churchill warned on September 21, 1938:
The neutralization of Czechoslovakia alone means the liberation of 25 German divisions to threaten the Western Front. The path to the Black Sea will be laid wide open to triumphant Nazism.
Acceptance of Herr Hitler’s terms involves the prostration of Europe before the Nazi power, of which the fullest advantage will certainly be taken. The menace, therefore, is not to Czechoslovakia, but to the cause of freedom and democracy in every country.
The idea that safety can be purchased by throwing a small State to the wolves is a fatal delusion.
The echoes of history stir as Russian fascism rises, threatening to redraw the map by force. Imagine Ukraine, once a proud defender of its sovereignty, brought to its knees—neutralized—not with a sudden blow, but through relentless pressure by a Trump-led U.S. and the calculated aggression of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. With Ukraine subdued, Russia would gain the breathing space it needs, quietly rebuilding its military might and replenishing its arsenal.
And then, Russia could strike at a moment of its own choosing. The Suwalki Gap—a narrow, strategic corridor between Poland and Lithuania—could become the gateway for Russian forces to pour into the vulnerable Baltic states. During the Russian invasion, the world would look to the United States for leadership. But under a Trump Administration, that assurance might no longer be there. The question would hang heavy in the air: Would America stand by its allies, or leave Europe to face the storm alone?
Trump’s early actions and words are not encouraging. Europe should rapidly prepare for a future where the United States is, at best, indifferent to Europe’s fate, or at worst, openly hostile to Europe. A time for choosing is approaching.
