Donald Trump is a lucky man.
The combination of allied courage and American support has inflicted serious losses on America’s enemies and created a series of strategic openings for the United States. The Iranian “axis of resistance” is in a state of collapse. Russia is facing an economic crisis and is chewing through men and matériel in Ukraine at an unsustainable rate.
In the same way that Trump inherited a growing economy and a weakened enemy in 2017 — after taking over the war against ISIS from Barack Obama well after it had begun — he’s inheriting a growing economy and weakened enemies in 2025. But with shooting wars underway on multiple fronts, the world is also far more dangerous than it was in 2017.
If Trump wants to capitalize on our enemies’ weaknesses, he’s going to have to shed at least some of his isolationism. We will continue to need allies to advance our national interests. And he’s going to have to clearly see the underlying truth, that the conflict in Ukraine and the struggle against Iran in the Middle East are intertwined.
In other words, throwing Vladimir Putin a lifeline in Ukraine now would undermine American strategic interests across the world.