Why Trump’s Republicans are deaf to Nato’s cry for Ukraine support

It’s no surprise the Nato secretary general’s trip to Washington to rally support finds no traction with the US right-wing, whose real enemy is the liberal order, not Putin or Xi

Robert Delaney

Published: 7:30pm, 5 Feb 2024

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“In 2022, deterrence did fail.” That was the assessment that Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to former US president Donald Trump, threw at Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine in a discussion at her think tank, The Heritage Foundation, last week.

Stoltenberg’s chat with Coates was one of his final public appearances after several days in Washington to deliver a dire message: China’s economic and rhetorical support for Russia is connected to the likelihood of an attack by People’s Liberation Army on Taiwan. If Russian President Vladimir Putin prevails in Ukraine, he warned, Chinese President Xi Jinping will be emboldened to take Taipei.

Stoltenberg had to explain to Coates that Ukraine isn’t a Nato member. To those unfamiliar with the rhetoric of the American far-right these days, it must have appeared odd that someone with her background didn’t know this.

She does know, as does everyone else at The Heritage Foundation, which in recent years has dedicated itself to throwing fuel into the fires of the American culture war and preparing a blueprint for a right-wing takeover of the US government through its Project 2025.

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts knows. “It was our sabre-rattling about Ukraine entering Nato that is one of the many factors that led to this,” he said in a recent New York Times interview, referring to Putin’s invasion.

This contention that we shouldn’t make any moves that might disturb Putin is exactly what Stoltenberg was trying to bury during his many appearances in the US, where Republicans are pushing the narrative that President Joe Biden is responsible for the terror that the Russian leader is unleashing.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on January 31. Stoltenberg told his audience that “while China is the most serious largest long-term challenge, Russia is the most immediate one”. Photo: EPA-EFE

The Heritage Foundation and others on the right are pushing reversal-of-reality narratives to deflect from the fact that Putin had a steadfast ally in Trump, who was trying to bring the Russian leader back to the table of global leadership. Trump failed because few Western leaders trusted Putin, who then went forth with the invasion that would have happened sooner or later.

Nato’s objective, Stoltenberg went on to explain, was to prevent Putin from expanding his campaign of aggression against any Nato members. So far, a success. He also pointed out that, with support from the bloc, Ukraine was able to take back about half of the territory that the Russian army occupied, another success that few thought possible.

For Coates and The Heritage Foundation, all that matters is that the viewpoint they share with Moscow, and by extension Beijing, gets oxygen. They want us to believe that the liberal, democratic, rules-based order that Washington spent decades building is not worth saving.

The state of US politics today should warm Beijing’s heart

It is against this backdrop that Biden and most Democrats are pleading with the US Congress to secure billions of US dollars in emergency supplemental aid for Ukraine. They are joined by the now-marginalised wing of the Republican Party, which includes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who haven’t cut ties with Ronald Reagan and the world order that the late Republican Party icon insisted on.

Under Trump’s thrall, the majority of the party is instead much more concerned that mega pop star Taylor Swift is part of a psychological operation to hand Biden another term in the White House. The fact that this staggeringly stupid narrative has gained momentum is a testament to how powerful right-wing narratives have become. If Trump’s base believe the Swift conspiracy, they won’t question the right-wing’s dismissal of Ukraine’s cause.

Taylor Swift kisses her boyfriend Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after an NFL match on January 28 in Baltimore. One wild conspiracy theory claims the singer’s romance with the NFL star is really a plot to rig the Super Bowl and get US President Joe Biden re-elected. Photo: AP

Instead, they hide their distain for political pluralism behind slogans about fiscal responsibility and an unrelated US border problem.

This all leads to a contention that’s much more plausible than the Swift psy-op nonsense and other MAGA tales because, as per all of the above, it’s been playing out before our eyes since Trump – who said late last month that he didn’t believe Nato would “be there” for America – took control of his party.

He’s a vehicle for those waging their own operation aimed not only at rewiring politics domestically, but also against the entire liberal democratic order that Nato protects. They reject the pluralistic societies that have undermined the lock on power white men used to wield. Women and minorities of all sorts have more seats at the table than ever before, and that is better for everyone.

It is anathema to Trump, The Heritage Foundation and the many other sources of right-wing distortions. As long as Ukraine stays in the fight against Russia, they will continue with the psy-ops that benefit Moscow and Beijing.

Robert Delaney is the Post’s North America bureau chief