Trump optimists are continuing to argue that the purpose of the undiplomatic offensive is to force the Europeans to take responsibility for protecting themselves, thereby permitting us to focus on China. Pessimists (including me) believe he plans to ally himself with Putin against the Europeans and Ukraine for the purpose of destroying the EU and NATO. How will we know who is right here?
Watch and see how Trump reacts to proposals from Europe to guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty as part of a peace deal. If he embraces them, the optimists are probably right; if he does his best to put up barriers to the use of European NATO assets, the pessimists will have won the day.