The irony is that Donald Trump has been correct in understanding that Americans are tired of war in places that they cannot find on a map. In fact, Trump might well have obtained his margin of victory over Biden through voters who were attracted by his verbal rejection of the “stupid wars” that have proliferated in the past twenty-five years.
But now that he has won, Trump is unrestrained and his darker side has been unleashed. His nominees for cabinet posts are nearly all aggressively Zionist and pro-Israel while also combative regarding both Russia and China. Trump himself has muddied the waters in the past several weeks by calling for resuming control of the Panama Canal to counter claimed gouging on tolls and Chinese engagement in its operations, has threatened “hell to pay” on the Gazans if they do not release the Israeli hostages by inauguration day, has called for annexing Greenland to improve US security, has not rejected recent Biden troop increases in Syria, has called for renaming the Gulf of Mexico, has proposed that Canada become the 51st state, and is reported to be discussing with the Israelis an attack on Iran.
He and his spokesmen have also warned Russia that the US will provide more arms to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin does not agree to negotiations to end the Ukraine war “in one day” after Donald Trump is in office, though the president-to-be is now conceding that it might take longer.
Trump has also repeatedly self-identified as the “most pro-Israel” candidate for public office, similar to the claims made by country club Catholic Joe Biden that he is a Zionist, as being close to Israel and American Jews currently serves as a sine qua non for those who are active in American politics.