Only last week, the Biden administration’s national security team was glumly focused on “Trump-proofing” support for Ukraine against what looked like the increasing possibility that former President Donald Trump would win in November. But that was last week.
The tone, and the message sent to Kyiv, changed markedly over the weekend with the stunning announcement that President Joe Biden was quitting the race to let Vice President Kamala Harris take on Trump as the new nominee for the Democrats.
In a phone call Monday with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin renewed the “unwavering support” of the U.S. in the fight to defeat the invading forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the mechanisms to limit what Trump might do in a second term to cut off that support were already in place.
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At the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, last week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when asked directly about “Trump-proofing,” for the first time spoke to the various steps the U.S. and its allies have taken to guard against the possibility of Trump ditching commitments to Ukraine should he return to the White House.
The term “Trump-proofing” has become a common expression among pundits, academics and reporters amid the rising questions over the future of the support when a new U.S. president is sworn…
