Last year, Donald Trump was “literally Hitler.” Last week, Trump was “literally Napoleon.” And today?
He’s “literally Chamberlain.”
(Not the good Chamberlain either — i.e. Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain, whose second-best sport was basketball. I’m talking about the bad Chamberlain: ex-Prime Minister of Britain, Neville Chamberlain, Mr. “Peace for Our Time.”)
These historical comparisons are flying fast and furious; I can’t tell if I’m reading the news or playing Political Jeopardy. But it’s true: Trump is “literally Chamberlain.” At least, that’s what they’re saying this week in the funny pages:
L.A. Times: ‘Peace in our time,’ appeasement: It’s happening again with Ukraine
Politico: Ukraine’s Brit allies cry ‘appeasement’ as Trump talks to Putin
The New Yorker: It Took Trump Only 24 Days to Sell Out Ukraine
Post and Courier: Will Trump’s Ukraine talks go the way of Neville Chamberlain?
Kyiv Post: Will Donald Trump Be Another Neville Chamberlain?
The Telegraph: Trump’s laudable desire for peace may make him the Neville Chamberlain of our era
The Spectator: Donald Trump is making the same mistake as Neville Chamberlain
Daily Mail: Trump is furiously accused of WW2-style ‘appeasement’
The Telegraph: Trump’s Ukraine peace talks have echoes of Nazi appeasement
Sky News: Ukraine has every reason to be worried after Trump’s comments
The Herald: Will they not learn from history? Putin will not stop at Ukraine
The Mirror: Trump and Putin’s Ukraine talks chilling echo of Hitler’s ‘peace with honour’ before WW2
CBC: Europe’s leaders warn against ‘appeasement’ with Russia, ceasefire talks without Ukraine
Sky News: Trump’s approach to Russia ‘looks like appeasement’
Daily Express: Donald Trump making World War III ‘more likely’ with Putin Ukraine ‘appeasement’
All the above news stories came out over just the past week!
Many years from now, historians will be perplexed by the mainstream media’s fascination with constantly comparing Donald Trump — one of history’s astonishingly unique leaders — with absolutely everyone else, from Hitler to Napoleon to Chamberlain to God-knows-who’s-next. (Lucifer?)
I’ve got news for you: Trump isn’t the next Napoleon, the next Hitler, or even the next Chamberlain. He’s the first Trump.
And despite the liberal hysteria about Trump’s so-called appeasement, he’s humanity’s best hope to end a brutal, bloody war that’s already cost Ukraine 10 million people.
Russia is in demographic freefall as well. For so many centuries in a row, Russia and Ukraine have been continually melon-scooping from their population pools in wars, invasions, famines (including manmade famines), and tyranny. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dead young men.
It’s tragic. The loss of life is irreplaceable. And today, it’s diminished both nations to threadbare husks of their former greatness.
Just as Trump is the first Trump, Putin is probably the first Putin. I know we love to compare Putin to Hitler, and in all candor, nobody can completely rule it out. Only The Shadow knows “what evil lurks in the hearts of men.” So sure, it’s possible that Putin is a Hitler fanboy with a framed photo of the Führer on his nightstand.
But more likely than not, I suspect that Putin is simply a Russian nationalist who’s making risk-reward calculations on the world stage. He didn’t try to take Ukraine to trigger World War III or to further a Nazi-inspired fever dream of world domination, but because he thought he could get away with it.
Putin is not a mindless zealot or a warmongering ideologue; he’s an immoral, Machiavellian, pro-Russian pragmatist. That might not make him a good person, but it probably does make him someone we can negotiate with.
And that’s exactly what Trump is hoping to do.
Furthermore, if Putin was wearing the “literally Hitler” mustache this week, wouldn’t that create more urgency for Trump’s mission? If Putin is “literally Hitler,” then our best bet for sidestepping World War III and/or nuclear Armageddon is to maximize Trump’s negotiating leverage.
As we discussed in yesterday’s article, “The Art of the Sabotage: The Far Left’s Betrayal of Ukraine Is Coming”:
If the Far Left actually gave a damn about the Ukrainian people, they’d be working overtime to maximize Trump’s leverage. Our “allies” in Europe would be doubling-down on their military budgets, increasing their troop size, and rattling their sabers at the Reds. They’d fund a larger army. They’d proudly align themselves with American foreign policy, bolster Trump’s stature, and do everything possible to elevate his profile.
It’s simple math: The stronger Trump is, the more leverage he has over Putin.
Besides, the consequences of not getting a deal done could literally be World War III. As much as the Far Left hates Donald Trump, they must fear World War III even more… right?
Not really.
Instead, we’re witnessing the opposite. The Far Left is teaming with the scattered remnants of the Neocon movement, coupled with the organizational heft of Deep State cronies, to sabotage Trump’s peace talks with Russia. They vehemently oppose any solution that “rewards” Putin for his aggression. Instead, the only acceptable outcome is a total Russian defeat, Putin behind bars, and for Ukraine to reclaim all its former territory. Anything less is “appeasement.”
But that’s not realistic, nor does it recognize the cold, cruel, unforgiving realities of the battlefield: Russia has operational control over large areas that Ukraine’s military is unlikely to wrest back. So why on Earth would Putin agree to return it? Because European leaders are calling him names?
So what? Europe barely even has a military!
With Western Europe’s size and economy, it could’ve built a formidable army that served as a strategic counterbalance to Russia. It wouldn’t have taken too long either: Just a few years. But it never did. Instead, it still wants America to come over and do all the fighting for it.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s former foreign minister, was one of the few European leaders willing to recognize this con game:
“People who say that Europe must be at the table should remember that to be invited, you have to matter. If Europe commits to money, troops and a European path for Ukraine, we will make our own table and Ukraine, Putin, and Trump can be invited. But time is running out,” Landsbergis wrote.
He’s right. Time is running out — especially for the Ukrainian people.
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