Trump is the ultimate political pragmatist |
Recent events have confirmed that US President Donald Trump is the ultimate political pragmatist.
Since his inauguration in January, Trump has endured ongoing criticism from portions his MAGA base – due in large part to his failure to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. Trump won the presidency by promising to end these foreign conflicts, and his seeming inability to do so has alienated a segment of his core supporters.
Trump’s most strident critic has been Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – a former Trump acolyte, conspiracy theorist, and committed MAGA ideologue.
Greene recently broadened her attack to condemn Trump for his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his refusal to release all documents held by the Department of Justice relating to its investigation of Epstein.
This is the domestic political context that caused Trump to intensify his attempts to finally resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. For Trump – as for all American presidents – his domestic and foreign policy agendas are intimately interrelated.
Trump recently brokered a solution to the Gaza conflict that has resulted in a temporary peace – which is unlikely to satisfy either the Palestinians or the Netanyahu government, but is, however, acceptable to the Arab states in the Middle East, Russia, China, and the United Nations.
Trump’s provisional settlement is one that the Biden administration could not have even contemplated. Biden, like previous Democrat presidents, was committed to uncritically supporting the Netanyahu government – no matter what atrocities it committed.
As for the Ukraine conflict, Trump has, since his reelection, consistently sought to end it – a reflection of his election promise that he would “end the conflict within 24 hours.”
Trump’s efforts to resolve the conflict have, until recently, proved ineffective – because of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s intransigence, and the determination of the UK, France, Germany, and the EU to support their ailing proxy and prolong the conflict indefinitely.
It now appears, however, that Trump may be on the verge of resolving the Ukraine conflict – which has needlessly wreaked havoc and death for the past three years.
Trump’s latest attempt to end the conflict is based his 28-point peace plan announced last week. This resolution could not have been entertained by Biden – committed as........