As Russia continued preparations to invade Ukraine on President Biden's watch, on Tuesday, MSNBC’s Morning Joe bizarrely tried to point a finger of blame at former President Trump instead. Hosts and pundits claimed the only reason Vladimir Putin didn’t further dismember the eastern European nation during Trump's presidency was because the Republican already gave Putin everything he wanted.
Host Mika Brzezinski asked political analyst Elise Jordan about the idea: “Elise Jordan, some on the right are criticizing or -- or really using this as an opportunity to point out that Russia did not invade or threaten Ukraine during the Trump presidency, but has in other presidencies before and after. What do you make of this assessment?”
Jordan proceeded to credit Brzezinski for leading her to the conclusion that Putin didn’t need to invade because Trump was his puppet: “Well, [President of the Council on Foreign Relations] Richard [Haass] and I were just talking about this off camera and I was asking him if he thought that the madman theory had done anything to deter Putin, but you pointed out Putin already had whatever he wanted from Trump so he didn't necessarily feel threatened.”
That explanation is nonsensical. If Putin didn’t feel threatened by Trump and if Trump gave him everything he wanted, then what was stopping him from recognizing the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine or possibly conducting a full scale invasion?
Several minutes later, the Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum returned to the subject of Trump and also blamed him for the current situation:
I think it is also important to remember going back to something that we talked about earlier that Putin, you know, has made various efforts to undo Western military support for Ukraine including during the Trump Administration. And if you remember this, the -- the argument over Trump's first impeachment was about Trump refusing to give military aid to Ukraine because he imagined he could get some dirt on Joe Biden from the Ukrainians.
Still, if Ukraine is defenseless, she declared that it's Trump’s fault: “...why didn't Putin do this during the Trump Administration? Because he thought Trump was weakening Ukraine, especially on these grounds. So this, the problem with Ukraine being unfortified goes back several years and—and-- much of the fault lies in the Trump Administration.”
Like Jordan’s explanation, Appleabaum’s theory makes no sense. Trump did more in terms of military support for Ukraine than the Obama Administration did as the latter refused to provide lethal aid. If Ukraine was so defenseless because of him, why wait until he was no longer president?
This segment was sponsored by Dove
Here is a transcript of the February 22 show:
MSNBC Morning Joe
2/22/2022
7:09 AM ET
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: So, Elise Jordan, some on the right are criticizing or—or-- really using this as an opportunity to point out that Russia did not invade or threaten Ukraine during the Trump presidency, but has in other presidencies before and after. What do you make of this assessment?
ELISE JORDAN: Well, Richard and I were just talking about this off camera and I was asking him if he thought that the madman theory had done anything to deter Putin, but you pointed out Putin already had whatever he wanted from Trump so he didn't necessarily feel threatened. What could though at this phase in the game allow Putin to save any face? You know, back in the early days of the Bush Administration he, Putin, had this moment of semi-cooperation. Then kind of after the Orange Revolution became very disenchanted with the Western order, and then post-2011 he really started to ratchet it up and then annexing Crimea, what do you think at this stage in the game could possibly be an exit ramp or is there just simply not one at this point?
RICHARD HAASS: What’s so interesting Elise, about what Putin did yesterday is he in some ways took away a lot of his own space. He took away the possibility of backing down. How does he now justify not getting defacto control over most of Ukraine, given what he said about the organic relationship of Ukraine, essentially rejecting Ukraine's right to be an independent, sovereign entity. So, I think he made it more difficult. Now, does he have to accomplish it with military force? No, and I actually think that he would much prefer to accomplish it without a full-scale invasion because of the cost of that economically and militarily.
So, I think we should look at all sorts of covert action, economic pressure, and one of the things we need to do is look at the ways, how do we strengthen the ability of the government of Ukraine to withstand all sorts of pressures? This is a long haul. We might only be in the first or second inning here if I can use a, you know, — Barnicle’s not here—a baseball metaphor. We have got to play this for the—the—long haul and Putin can be patient. Look at what he’s done over the past eight years. We have to be, in some ways, equally as strategic.
…
7:34
ANNE APPLEBAUM: I think it is also important to remember going back to something that we talked about earlier that Putin, you know, has made various efforts to undo Western military support for Ukraine including during the Trump Administration. And if you remember this, the—the--the argument over Trump's first impeachment was about Trump refusing to give military aid to Ukraine because he imagined he could get some dirt on Joe Biden from the Ukrainians.
BRZEZINSKI: Right.
APPLEBAUM: So -- so -- so why wasn’t, you know, why didn't Putin do this during the Trump Administration? Because he thought Trump was weakening Ukraine, especially on these grounds. So this, the problem with Ukraine being unfortified goes back several years and -- and -- much of the fault lies in the Trump Administration.
