28-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
On Russia, Trump Is More of the Same
Critics and fans alike treat President Trump's Russia policy as revolutionary: His outreach to Moscow despite Russia's war of conquest against Ukraine is either a betrayal of American values or a cold-blooded, brilliant attempt at geopolitical realignment against China. In reality, it's a thoroughly conventional policy, in line with every U.S. administration's approach since 1989. Like the rest, it will fail—unless Mr. Trump tries something truly radical.
The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 presented a unique opportunity to check Moscow's revanchism. With vast territorial reserves and a centralized, militaristic society, Russia had preyed on Europe for centuries. In the 20th century alone, Moscow gobbled up the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine and extended its dominion to eastern Germany. World War II left Europe—without America until the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's founding in 1949—too weak to respond.
