Common sense is in short supply, especially in our nation’s capital. The career policymakers who fill the ranks of President Biden’s team, like those of the Obama administration, are committed to old, unchallenged orthodoxies that have produced nothing but failure. They don’t see the foolishness of one orthodoxy in particular: how we provide Ukraine assistance. Biden has been unbelievably slow in getting Ukraine the weapons it needs, allowing the war to drag on indefinitely as casualties continue to pile up. The result? A politically divided nation at home and a losing effort abroad. It doesn't have to be this way. We can provide Ukraine the resources it needs to achieve victory, and we can do so while serving America’s national and economic interests. We simply need leaders with clarity who see problems for what they are and have the courage to reject failed “conventional wisdom” from Washington. Fortunately, President Donald Trump has offered a solution that will accomplish just that.
Trump has presented a commonsense plan: provide military and economic assistance to Ukraine as loans. Under this scheme, any future agreements to provide aid would be conditional, not charity. The deal would be simple: The United States will continue helping Ukraine, but the amount of aid we give will be paid back, and American taxpayers will not be on the hook once Ukraine has had the chance to rebuild its once-growing economy. Loans and loan guarantees have a long and successful history in American foreign assistance — and they can work for Ukraine. Ukraine is a wonderful country with a rich and vibrant future, if given a chance. The Ukrainian people aren’t looking for handouts but a chance to succeed and crush Russian aggression. This plan does that; it is a deal every lawmaker, indeed every American, can get behind. We should all want to see Russian President Vladimir Putin defeated in Ukraine — Trump’s plan will deliver this.
There are poor nations that cannot repay American support, but if this war has proved anything, it is that Ukrainians are tough, innovative, proud people who will rebuild and succeed. This, it’s worth noting, is the sort of non-establishment thinking that enabled Trump to succeed in keeping America and the free world safe for four years. And it is exactly what has been missing under Biden.
Let’s take a minute to, as Biden’s officials like to say, “circle back.” Let’s circle back to a time the world was safer. When no men and women — including 13 American servicemembers — had died fleeing Afghanistan. When Iran hadn’t dared mobilize its proxy forces to attack American military bases. When Hamas hadn’t attacked Israel, killing more than a thousand. When Putin hadn’t invaded Ukraine, killing tens of thousands. When Chinese President Xi Jinping wasn’t blatantly flying spy balloons over the heads of the American people. And yes, when our European allies moved closer to meeting their NATO spending commitments and were in a better position to help deter Putin. This wasn’t luck. It wasn’t coincidence. For four years, Trump and our administration were able to keep these things from happening by constructing a model of deterrence — based on commonsense principles — that kept our enemies at bay. We didn’t make ransom payments. We didn’t send foreign aid to terrorists. We enforced the law on our southern border. At that time, America’s enemies respected American strength, feared American reprisal and understood their best path forward was grudging cooperation rather than provocation or hostility. American presidents had championed this model of deterrence in the past, but it took Trump to reinvigorate it.
Now it’s gone.
Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro are all still around, and they are all still committed to building a world fundamentally opposed to the American way of life. If you want evidence of that, just look at the last four years. Biden has put America on its back foot and given our adversaries the advantage. He has proven incapable of leading America amidst these rising threats. He hasn’t kept America secure. Trump’s plan to provide aid to Ukraine as a loan is a reminder of why he was successful as president. In November, the American people would do well to remember that four years ago, America was far richer, safer, and more powerful than it is today because of that same leadership.