Marcia Hayward: Trump covets Putin's power to make decisions without constraint

To The Daily Sun,

Thanks to President George W. Bush for speaking out against President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine. The disgraceful behavior of President Trump toward President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on March 2 prompted President Bush to state that Ukraine should be the top priority of the America First agenda and not dictators who oppose American interests. Bush reminds us that since the “founding of the United States, Americans have been the champion of freedom. Dictators, on the other hand, reject the idea of individual liberty and opportunity because it threatens their power.”

According to the Ronald Reagan Institute’s National Defense survey, 80% of Americans view Vladimir Putin as an enemy while 75% view Zelenskyy as an ally. Americans know that Ukraine shares American values, and Russia does not. So why does Trump have an affinity for Putin? I think as well as others, that Trump has “autocrat envy”, that he covets the power Putin has to make decisions in Russia without any constraints. One only has to review Trump’s excessive executive orders during his first six weeks in office as evidence.

Whatever the explanation for Putin affinity, Trump’s actions have alienated our European allies of more than 80 years. Trump recently threatened economic sanctions against Russia, but he doesn’t state what those actions would be. However, Trump has no issue with extorting mineral rights from Ukraine. In the Oval Office Trump defended Putin saying that Russia “bombing the hell of out of Ukraine” was a sign that Russia wanted the war to end. It must only be in a Trump world that bombing the hell out of someone is a sign that one wants peace.

I hope that Republicans and independents that voted for Trump will heed former President Bush’s criticism and actively push back on Trump’s romance with authoritarianism.

Marcia Hayward

Laconia