Among the countless outrages that Donald Trump spouted during his epic torrent of lies last Thursday was the cliché, often repeated by his supporters and apologists, that his very presence in the White House would immunize the world against new wars.
Donald Trump, a man of peace?
It is a myth, but like most myths, it has some basis in truth.
Magical thinking
There were indeed no “new” major wars between January 2017 and January 2021. Trump even claims to be the only president who can boast of such an accomplishment, which is false, because that was also the case for Jimmy Carter.
Trump has also made a certain political capital with his supposed opposition to the invasion of Iraq, although it was only after that war went badly that he publicly opposed it.
From there to saying that a Trump presidency would be the best insurance policy against war, there is a step that the followers of his cult do not hesitate to take, but which is a matter of magical thinking.
Less belligerent?
Trump’s apologists insist that he is less belligerent than his counterparts. The facts demonstrate quite the opposite.
For example, the use of drones against civilian targets was widely criticized during Barack Obama’s presidency, but such attacks increased dramatically during the Trump years, only to decline during Biden’s term.
Trump has not launched an open war, but some of his administration’s military exploits could be described as acts of war. Such is the case with the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad airport in January 2020.
There was nothing particularly dovish about Trump’s escalating support for Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen. Add in Trump’s rollback of nuclear nonproliferation agreements, and the overall picture of his tenure is not great.
Gaza and Ukraine
As for the world’s two major conflicts of the day, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza, Trump’s rhetoric gives little reason to believe that a just peace would have any chance of coming under his watch.
On Gaza, Trump remained silent for a long time, only to later decry the weakness of the intervention of the Israeli armed forces, which he would have liked to “finish the job”, no doubt to avoid him having to manage this crisis if he returns to the presidency.
Trump insists that he will end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected. He provides no details about his miracle plan, but his rhetoric suggests that he would support an outright capitulation to Vladimir Putin’s demands, which would mean the end of Ukraine as an independent country in the near future.
Finally, a return of Trump would threaten the American commitment to the Atlantic Alliance, which remains the only credible bulwark against Russian expansionism. Peace according to Trump looks very much like submission to the will of a handful of dictators.
Donald Trump, a man of peace? Really?
