Donald Trump, Peacenik

This Is How GOP Doves Fly in 2023

By Kevin Howley, July 24, 2023

Say this for MAGA Republicans in the US Congress: This isn’t you father’s GOP.

There was a time when things like the rule of law and bloated Pentagon budgets were sacrosanct for conservatives. How times have changed. As WND reported earlier this month, “Lawmakers within the GOP’s right flank are pushing amendments to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would tank funding for Ukraine.”

That’s right. The party of Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, esteemed cold warriors for generations of hardline Republicans, is flying its freak flag high, gumming up the works in the Pentagon, challenging US military spending, and raising the alarm over a third world war.

What, you may ask, explains this abrupt about-face in Republican defense policy?

It all comes down to the vision of one man. A true leader. A deal maker. A twice-impeached former president who collects criminal indictments like some people collect MAGA trading cards: Donald J. Trump, peacenik.

“End the War!”

Soon after Russian forces invaded Ukraine, conservative politicians seized on the opportunity to make the European conflict a wedge issue in the 2022 midterms. Now, with the 2024 general election on the horizon, the GOP is doubling down on criticism of the Biden administration’s military aid for embattled Ukrainians.

Eager to change the subject of his legal quagmire, the Donald took the moral high ground – a first in the annals of Trump World – to challenge President Joe Biden’s recent decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine. In no time at all, right wing media echoed Trump’s dire warnings about escalation.

For instance, American Wire reports, “On the day that President Joe Biden gathered with allies at the NATO summit in Lithuania, former President Donald J. Trump blasted him for ‘dragging us further toward World War III’ by agreeing to send cluster bombs to Ukraine, weapons that have been banned by over 100 countries in a move that drew bipartisan condemnation.”

Further down in the story, writer Chris Donaldson gets his snark on, referring to Biden as “the flailing octogenarian leader” before establishing Trump’s peace candidate cred: “the only president in recent history to have not started a foreign conflict during his time in office.”

Studiously avoiding the second civil war Trump and his followers are jonesing for, Donaldson continues with the former president’s plea for peace: “Joe Biden should not be dragging us further toward World War III by sending cluster munitions to Ukraine – he should be trying to END the war and stop the horrific death and destruction being caused by an incompetent administration.”

Of course, questioning Biden’s competence is old hat for conservative media, but the stalemate in Ukraine is ready-made for exploiting American weariness with the European conflict. A recent headline for WND put it this way: “Trump Warns ‘Incompetent’ Biden is Pushing America Toward ‘World War III.’”

Trump’s dovish approach to Ukraine has the additional advantage of putting even more daylight between himself and his faltering GOP contender, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. As Townhall recently wrote: “Trump Slams Biden, DeSantis Over Ukraine Stance.”

Meanwhile, The Daily Signal’s coverage of Trump’s speech aimed at young conservatives attending the Turning Point USA Action conference proclaims: “Donald Trump Promises: ‘I Will Prevent World War III.’”

If that’s not enough to convince you that Trump is the only one who can bring us peace in our time, take a look at this mind-blowing headline, from American Thinker no less: “A Vote for President Trump a Rejection of the Military Industrial Complex in DC and Beyond.”

Good Cop, Bad Cop

When he isn’t posting updates about criminal indictments to his desolate Truth Social platform, the former president is playing head games with his opponents, including, and maybe even especially, the news media.

Headlined, “Trump Plays Good Cop, Bad Cop in Promise to End Ukraine War,” the Washington Examiner wryly notes, “Former President Donald Trump has said for months that if he returns to the White House, he’d be able to end Russia’s war in Ukraine in one day.”

The Examiner recaps Trump’s recent appearance on Fox News, when the consummate deal-maker described his peace plan to a skeptical Maria Bartiromo. Turns out, Trump is counting on his personal relationships with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, and his considerable powers of persuasion, to end the conflict.

And if that doesn’t work, he’ll make Putin an offer he can’t refuse.

“I would tell Zelensky, no more. You got to make a deal. I would tell Putin, if you don’t make a deal, we’re going to give him a lot. We’re going to [give Ukraine] more than they ever got if we have to. I will have the deal done in one day. One day.”

For some, Trump’s remarks contradict his position on Ukraine. But for this Trump watcher, it’s more of the same. Sure, he’ll cut a deal to end the bloody war in 24 hours. And if the warring parties don’t go for his deal, he’ll double down on the carnage.

During the Cold War, Ronald Reagan coined the phrase “peace through strength” to capture this sort of pretzel logic. Today, Trump conveys the same chilling prospect of nuclear brinkmanship with his trademark “art of the deal.”

Kevin Howley is a writer and educator whose work has appeared in “Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism,” “Social Movement Studies,” and “Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture.” He is the author and editor of several books including “Media Interventions” and “Drones: Media Discourse and the Public Imagination.”

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