It’s in the nature of President-elect Donald Trump’s hurry-up transition offense that he confronts the most significant decisions of his presidency long before he assumes office on January 20. They swirl around how he counters Russian President Vladimir Putin and supports Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.
It’s hard to overestimate how great a difference his Ukraine-related decisions in the coming weeks will make to the trajectory of his second term. Beyond that, Trump can either assert or undermine US global leadership for an emerging era of great-power competition that will stretch far beyond his four years in office.
Done in the wrong way, Trump’s decisions will signal to Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—the evolving “axis of aggressors”—that the United States is divided, distracted, and prepared to cede the global leadership that it has assumed since World War II, whether intentionally or by default.
Done in the right way, Trump’s decisions can confound his critics, who see some of his early nominations for cabinet positions as evidence that he’s more interested in disruption and retribution than in building a legacy equal to that of great US presidents of the past.
Voice of Ukraine 