Trump’s treachery is trashing our values

Martin Shipton

As we head towards the second quarter of the 21st Century, the facade of civilisation that we have taken for granted throughout our lifetimes seems rapidly to be coming to an end.

I am already nostalgic for a time when world leaders thought it important to at least give the impression that they wanted to be seen as acting wisely and in the interests of humanity.

The creation of the United Nations after World War Two was, following the earlier failure of the League of Nations, seen idealistically as a forum where international disputes could be ironed out peacefully.

With the definition of concepts like genocide and crimes against humanity by the humanitarian lawyers Raphael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht – whose story is told brilliantly in Philippe Sands’ memoir East West Street – there appeared to be a concerted attempt to create a world order based on fundamental morality. Likewise with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Principles

Let’s not delude ourselves. There was still plenty of injustice in the world, but the drafting of these laudable principles provided us with a template against which we could measure the performance of nations and their leaders. And even when they were transgressing civilised standards, leaders pretended they were acting out of integrity and duty.

It’s just a month since Donald Trump returned to the White House and already the foundations of international order are being uprooted. We got to know him as an incorrigible liar in his first term, but his manner of discharging his duties as president was so chaotic that the damage he did was limited, certainly in comparison with how he is behaving now. His current modus operandi may seem even more erratic but it certainly gives the impression of being better organised.

We can look aghast at what he is doing on the domestic front – dismissing without legitimate cause huge numbers of federal employees, for example, some of whom have been responsible for regulating the business activities of him and his cronies like Elon Musk – but his actions on the international stage are even more shocking to those of us outside the United States.

Trump’s support for Putin and his portrayal of Zelensky as the aggressor and as a dictator provide confirmatory evidence that he is in fact a Russian asset and a traitor to the cause of democracy.

Ethnic cleansing

In terms of support for Israel, he has managed to out-Netanyahu Netanyahu by proposing a policy of ethnic cleansing for Gaza that is beyond the wildest dreams of the most fervent Zionist. Expelling possibly millions of Palestinians from their homeland – they’ve already been bombed out of their homes – so it can be turned into a holiday resort is a sick fantasy that he may seek to turn into reality. For who is going to stop him?

The international community is guilty of craven and supine behaviour. Few countries are prepared to call him out as a swaggering bully, because they fear that their national interest could be damaged if they do so. But what does their sovereignty amount to if by inaction they allow evil to triumph?

And what Trump is engaged in is evil. He knows that ethnic cleansing is a crime under international law and yet he has no qualms about advocating it in Palestine. It’s also happening in the West Bank, of course, where aggressive Jewish settlers are attacking and sometimes killing Palestinians and stealing their land.

How far Trump is prepared to go in implementing such a despicable project in Gaza remains to be seen, but he’s succeeded in getting it talked about as if it’s a serious contribution to an imaginary peace process.

Equally, Trump’s accidence to talks with Russia about ending the war without involving Ukraine represents a return to the kind of big-powers carve-ups that took place in the imperial age and which was assumed to be a thing of the past.

Since the aftermath of World War Two, while there has never been any doubt about where the real power lay, there has at least been some acknowledgement of the rights of smaller nations. Ukraine, of course, could only be described as a smaller nation in comparison with Russia and the United States: it is, in fact, the largest country wholly in Europe. And yet Trump and Putin think it’s entirely reasonable that they should negotiate an end to the war between them, without reference to the injured party.

Meanwhile in Britain the party leading the polls is the one whose leader is closely allied with Trump and who has previously expressed his admiration for Putin. Identifying with two figures who are both very unpopular in Britain could come back to haunt Reform UK.

‘Treacherous intent’

We are living in dangerous times. Trump’s public assertion that Ukraine will have to give up land to Russia, which is entitled to it as one of the spoils of war, is either evidence of his diplomatic naivety or of his treacherous intent. I’m inclined to believe the latter. His attempt to browbeat Zelensky into surrender is not going down well in Ukraine, and is leading to very serious concern about how events may play out.

While Ukraine has the moral support of the West except the US, there are doubts about whether the people of Europe would be prepared to pay the price in armaments and lives to help it hold out for much longer.

A friend who has studied European history for many years told me: “Everyone is using the analogy of Munich. They don’t talk about 1939/40. Germans attack and defeat Poland and we do what? Literally nothing until Hitler goes on the offensive in May 1940 .

“If we are serious about deterring the Russians it’s going to take years to build up the defence needed. Are we prepared to make the sacrifices required? I’m not sure we are despite the talk.

“The worst case scenario is that the Ukrainian front collapses, Russia breaks through and someone then does something stupid. That’s why, unpalatable as it is, Trump’s initiative might be the last chance for a peaceful solution even if it means Ukraine loses territory. All the stuff that Starmer and Macron talk about just doesn’t seem feasible because the Russians won’t agree. The military must be pulling their hair out for so many reasons.”

If Ukraine is forced to give up not just territory, but the thousands of children who have been abducted and sent to Russia, it will be a triumph for a latter-day Hitler. And such a victory will have been obtained by the treachery of Trump and the Republicans who previously denied Ukraine the weapons it needed to obtain a just settlement.

How much more treachery awaits us in the three years and 11 months that remain of his presidency?