Downplaying the significance of democracy is might be sensible, given Trump didn’t point out the phrase as soon as in his inaugural tackle — in stark distinction with that of his predecessor Joe Biden, who talked about it 11 occasions.
The previous scripts merely don’t work in Trump’s Washington anymore. They haven’t any traction — even on the subject of worldwide human rights and the promotion of democracy, which MAGA loyalists declare have been grotesquely inflated anyway. They’ve all been fed, together with the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement, into Elon Musk’s woodchipper.
And but, human rights advocates are resolutely sticking to what they know, their phrases plummeting into the deep fissure dividing them from Washington. Take, for instance, Oleksandra Matviichuk — an indefatigable Ukrainian human rights lawyer who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2022. She’s been patiently lobbying in Washington, attempting to impress upon all who will pay attention that any peace deal to finish Russia’s warfare should not overlook accountability for warfare crimes.
Her pitch, as she instructed POLITICO, is that “in the beginning, we’re all people. After I inform about horrible atrocities — which have been documented — concerning the 20,000 illegally kidnapped youngsters, about non secular persecution within the occupied territories … and about illegally detained civilians who’re tortured and sexually abused, all this resonates amongst individuals within the U.S. and American officers.”
Possibly with some — however not with Trump and his MAGA loyalists. Final week, as Matviichuk was lobbying, Trump was sanctioning the Worldwide Prison Court docket, which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin.
So, as European leaders attempt to come across one of the best technique to deal with Trump — whether or not by defiance, confrontation (suppose retaliatory tariffs), deference, providing offers or all 4 — they could need to think about this: What’s unfolding isn’t nearly Trump anymore. There’s a noticeable distinction between this new administration and his first time period. They’re higher ready, extra disciplined and arguably extra ideological.
