The United States is doing it again: walking away from allies. It is almost as if each U.S. presidency needs to practice betrayal as a form of statecraft. The examples of men and women who counted on our support are many. George H.W. Bush with the Kurds. Barack Obama with the Syrians. Donald Trump and Joe Biden with the Afghans. And now, Trump with the Ukrainians. America, the dependable ally, we are not.
I served as a U.S. intelligence officer in the field, often in dangerous conflict zones from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan. I retired before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but as the Trump administration abandons this former American ally, PTSD is setting in for many of my ilk: the actual operational practitioners of U.S. foreign policy. We were “on the ground,” far from Congress and the Situation Room, far from think tanks and academic institutions. We were the first ones in, parachuted into conflicts with the implication that the proverbial cavalry would be on the way shortly.
This clear policy shift is nevertheless subtle enough that many Americans may not understand it.
My U.S. government colleagues and I were upfront and personal with our allies, whoever they were. At times, we were even in harm’s way, just like our allies. We lived side by side with them, broke bread with them, rejoiced in their successes and mourned their deaths. We made grand promises, offered platitudes and provided assistance — at least initially. Yet so often there is no fairy-tale ending, as time and time again politicians decided that the going had gotten too tough or that political expediency outweighed morality.
I once told a four-star U.S. Army general that I was lucky to work with the finest fighting force in eastern Afghanistan. He looked around puzzled, seeing no U.S. troops at the small front-line paramilitary base where we were standing. But I was singing the praises of the group of Afghan Indigenous fighters whom we were on the way to inspect. The general was not amused, yet no truer comment could ever have been said about the bravery of the Afghans. But years after the hasty U.S. withdrawal from their country, many of those who helped fight the Taliban are still on the run. Tens of thousands of interpreters, engineers and other noncombatant allies have been left behind to face starvation, poverty and retribution.
Many of us, however, thought Ukraine would really be different. This was a classic story of right versus wrong, of “David vs. Goliath,” and the U.S. did come to Ukraine’s aid once Russian forces were on the move. Since then, Ukraine has exacted hundreds of thousands of casualties on the Russian invaders. Behind the scenes, the U.S. has reportedly provided critical military and intelligence assistance — without a drop of U.S. blood shed.
Did the U.S. do enough? No. Biden’s fear of possible escalation with Russia squandered too many opportunities, to the immense frustration of Ukraine, its soldiers and its supporters. But $60 billion in aid is not small potatoes. The Ukrainians fight valiantly and bravely, proving time and again that they would never be defeated. With the backing of the world’s greatest superpower, anything was possible.
Yet now, the Trump administration appears eager to walk away from Ukraine. Details of exactly how remain murky. The president and those around him are not talking with one voice. Trump says one thing one day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth another, Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Keith Kellogg something else the next. Yet one thing appears abundantly clear: The U.S. is not an ally of Ukraine any longer. At best, America is now a neutral party, and at worst complicit in its demise.
Our adversaries even now must be celebrating; there are surely open vodka bottles in the Kremlin.
This clear policy shift is nevertheless subtle enough that many Americans may not understand it. But for Ukrainians, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in particular, there is no doubt about the United States’ intentions. At the Munich Security Conference last week, Zelenskyy repeatedly pleaded that Ukraine needs the U.S. to support it against Russia, not to mediate between the two. Not only was Trump unpersuaded, he blamed Ukraine for starting the war — an allegation that is of course patently false.
Trust is so hard to gain, and yet so easily lost. And though some of the Trump team’s errors — such as Hegseth’s statement that Ukraine would never join NATO — were walked back, the damage is already done. Each concession to Russia gives Russian President Vladimir Putin a victory even before negotiations begin. One former U.S. senior intelligence officer told me that Ukraine, even in the best-case scenario, will look now at the U.S. from the vantage of a spouse scorned by infidelity.
I have spoken with numerous retired U.S. national security practitioners who have worked globally countering Russian aggression, including those who spent the last decade in and out of Ukraine, asking them what the recent U.S. policy change personally meant to them. Often there is a long silence. Then a sigh. A former intelligence officer said his thoughts immediately went to the scores of Ukrainians with whom he worked — their incredible sense of resolve and will to fight. Some have recently visited Ukraine to make contact with old friends. It was difficult for them to look old Ukrainian partners in the eye as the U.S. shifts from ally to neutral player, or maybe worse.
My former colleagues’ thoughts shifted to the future as well. Many stated that this betrayal was the big one: epic in its scope, with far-reaching consequences for the next fight, likely with China. The fallout will be even worse than the Afghans left to fend for themselves. It will now be impossible for anyone to trust the U.S. as an ally. Our adversaries even now must be celebrating; there are surely open vodka bottles in the Kremlin.
Is this what Trump wants as his legacy? Does “America First” really mean “America the Betrayer”? Or will this White House come to its senses, stop pushing for an unjust peace deal and actually allow Ukrainians agency in their future?
Marc Polymeropoulos
